i have enjoyed receiving all of these from the Merton Institute. sadly they are no longer being sent out – so what i post here is all that is left of them:
Weekly Reflection for April 16, 2012
The way to find the real “world” is not merely to measure and observe what is outside us, but to discover our own inner ground. For that is where the world is, first of all: in my deepest self.
Thomas Merton. Contemplation in A World of Action (New York: Doubleday & Company, 1973): 170
Thought for the Day: When I find the world in my own ground, it is impossible for me to be alienated by it.
Contemplation in A World of Action: 170
Contemplative Pause: Throughout this week, pause, take a breath, and listen with your heart. Find how your “inner ground” reflects your outer world.
Weekly Reflection for April 23, 2012
Do you want to know God? Then learn to understand the weaknesses and imperfections of other men. But how can you understand the weaknesses of others unless you understand your own? And how can you see the meaning of your own limitations until you have received mercy from God, by which you know yourself and Him?
Thomas Merton. No Man Is An Island. New York: Doubleday and Company, 1955: 214
Thought for the Day: It is not sufficient to forgive others: we must forgive them with humility and compassion. If we forgive them without humility, our forgiveness is a mockery: it presupposes that we are better than they.
No Man Is An Island.: 214
Contemplative Pause: Throughout this week, pause, take a breath, and listen with your heart. What aches in your heart that longs to be forgiven?
Weekly Reflection for April 30, 2012
Contemplation cannot be taught. It cannot even be clearly explained. It can only be hinted at, suggested, pointed to, symbolized. The more objectively and scientifically one tries to analyze it, the more he empties it of its real content, for this experience is beyond the reach of verbalization and of rationalization….
Thomas Merton. New Seeds of Contemplation. New York: New Directions Press, 1962: 6
Thought for the Day: The only way to get rid of misconceptions about contemplation is to experience it.
New Seeds of Contemplation: 6
Contemplative Pause: Throughout this week, pause, take a breath, and listen with your heart. How do you experience contemplation?
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