You cannot be a man of faith unless you know how to doubt.
Interpretation
Doubt is a necessary component of faith, as questioning beliefs can lead to a deeper understanding.
This quote by Thomas Merton emphasizes the relationship between faith and doubt, suggesting that true faith is not simply a blind acceptance of beliefs, but rather a thoughtful and critical engagement with them. By acknowledging doubt, an individual can explore their beliefs more deeply, leading to a richer and more authentic faith experience.
In practice
During a sermon discussion on the complexities of belief.
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.
We are the eyes of the cosmos. So that in a way, when you look deeply into somebody's eyes, you're looking deep into yourself, and the other person is looking deeply into the same self.
If people dying as a consequence of the implementation of measures cannot count as evidence that the legislation has detrimental effects, what would?
There is no need to worry about mere size. We do not necessarily respect a fat man more than a thin man. Sir Isaac Newton was very much smaller than a hippopotamus, but we do not on that account value him less.
There were no formerly heroic times, and there was no formerly pure generation. There is no one here but us chickens, and so it has always been.
To show our simple skill, That is the true beginning of our end.
Curious indeed how these things happen. The wand chooses the wizard, remember...I think we must expect great things from you, Mr. Potter... After all, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named did great things β terrible, yes, but great.
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