a moment with Thomas Merton

“If you want to identify me,
ask me not where I live
or what I like to eat
or how I comb my hair,
but ask me what I am living for –
in detail –
and ask me what I think is keeping me
from living wholly for the things I want to live for.”
~ Thomas Merton



“THOUGHTS IN SOLITUDE”
by Thomas Merton

My Lord, God, I have no idea where I am going.
I do not see the road ahead of me.
I cannot know for certain where it will end.

Nor do I really know myself; and,
The fact that I think I am following Your will
does not mean that I am actually doing so.

But I believe that the desire to please You
does, in fact, please You.
And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing.

I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire.
And, I know that if I do, You will lead me by the right road
Though I may know nothing about it.

Therefore, will I trust You always –
though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death.

I will not fear, for You are ever with me; and,
You will never leave me to face my perils alone.




"Let there always be quiet, dark churches in which people can
take refuge....Houses of God filled with his silent presence. There,
even when they do not know how to pray, at least they
can be still and breathe easily. -Thomas Merton, (New Seeds of Contemplation)