What a thing it is to sit absolutely alone, in the forest, at night, cherished by this wonderful, unintelligible, perfectly innocent speech, the most comforting speech in the world, the talk that rain makes by itself all over the ridges, and the talk of the watercourses everywhere in the hollows! Nobody started it, nobody is going to stop it. It will talk as long as it wants this rain. As long as it talks I am going to listen.
Interpretation
The quote highlights the profound comfort and serenity one can find in nature's sounds, particularly rain, when alone in the forest.
Thomas Merton's quote reflects on the soothing experience of solitude in nature, particularly at night in a forest, where the natural sounds of rain and watercourses create a dialogue that is both comforting and serene. This 'speech' of nature is described as innocent and self-sustaining, inviting the listener into a space of peace and contemplation, emphasizing the deep connection between humanity and the natural world.
In practice
This quote could be used in a speech about the importance of connecting with nature.
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 day's exposure to mountains is better than a cartload of books.
Why is it that so many of us persist in thinking that autumn is a sad season? Nature has merely fallen asleep, and her dreams must be beautiful if we are to judge by her countenance.
Environmentalism is a way of seeing our place within the biosphere.
Mountains are not stadiums where I satisfy my ambition to achieve, they are the cathedrals where I practice my religion.
Nature is wont to hide herself.
A man who lives with nature is used to violence and is companionable with death. There is more violence in an English hedgerow than in the meanest streets of a great city.
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