Life is this simple: we are living in a world that is absolutely transparent and the divine is shining through it all the time. This is not just a nice story or a fable, it is true.
Interpretation
Life is straightforward and profound, revealing the divine in everything around us.
In this quote, Thomas Merton emphasizes the simplicity and clarity of life, suggesting that the divine presence is constant and evident in our world. He urges us to recognize that this truth is not merely a metaphor but a fundamental reality that shapes our existence.
In practice
During a meditation retreat, I shared this quote to inspire others to find the divine in everyday life.
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.
Purity of morals [is] the only sure foundation of public happiness in any country.
Principles are guidelines for human conduct that are proven to have enduring, permanent value.
An honorable Peace is and always was my first wish! I can take no delight in the effusion of human Blood; but, if this War should continue, I wish to have the most active part in it.
Trade is the best cure for prejudice.
In a Town like Twin Peaks noone is innocent
The answer is never the answer. What's really interesting is the mystery.
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