A faith that is afraid of other people is no faith at all.
Interpretation
True faith should not fear judgment or rejection from others.
This quote by Thomas Merton emphasizes that authentic faith requires courage and openness, suggesting that a belief system that is fraught with anxiety over the opinions of others lacks genuine strength. It encourages individuals to cultivate confidence in their beliefs and to engage with the world without fear, implying that true spirituality embraces diversity and dialogue rather than isolation and fear.
In practice
During a religious discussion, one might use this quote to highlight the importance of standing firm in one's beliefs.
The devil is no fool. He can get people feeling about heaven the way they ought to feel about hell. He can make them fear the means of grace the way they do not fear sin. And he does so, not by light but by obscurity, not by realities but by shadows; not by clarity and substance, but by dreams and the creatures of psychosis. And men are so poor in intellect that a few cold chills down their spine will be enough to keep them from ever finding out the truth about anything.
Our vocation is not simply to be, but to work together with God in the creation of our own life, our own identity, our own destiny....To work out our identity in God.
Conscience is the light by which we interpret the will of God in our own lives.
You are made in the image of what you desire.
But 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 think I am living for.
I have the immense joy of being man, a member of a race in which God Himself became incarnate. As if the sorrows and stupidities of the human condition could overwhelm me, now that I realize what we all are. And if only everybody could realize this! But it cannot be explained. There is no way of telling people that they are all walking around shining like the sun.
One of the more difficult tasks for me as president was to decide on the issue of confirming capital punishment awarded by courts... to my surprise... almost all cases which were pending had a social and economic bias.
What is prudence in the conduct of every private family can scarce be folly in that of a great kingdom.
Some people take the view that the universe is simply there, and it runs along - it's a bit as though it just sort of computes, and we happen by accident to find ourselves in this thing. I don't think that's a very fruitful or helpful way of looking at the universe.
Character in a saint means the disposition of Jesus Christ persistently manifested.
A sword never kills anybody; it is a tool in the killer's hand.
For I do not exist: there exist but the thousands of mirrors that reflect me. With every acquaintance I make, the population of phantoms resembling me increases. Somewhere they live, somewhere they multiply. I alone do not exist.
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