We are living in a world that is absolutely transparent and God is shining through it all the time. God manifests Himself everywhere, in everything - in people and in things and in nature and in events ... The only thing is we don't see it ... I have no program for this seeing. It is only given. But the gate of heaven is everywhere.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the omnipresence of divinity in the world, suggesting that God is evident in all aspects of life, though many fail to perceive it.
Thomas Merton's quote reflects the idea that the divine is constantly present in our lives and surroundings, manifesting in people, nature, and events. However, it also points out that our ability to perceive this divine presence is limited, as many of us remain oblivious to it. Merton suggests that realization of this divine manifestation, or 'seeing,' is not something that can be programmed or forced; it is a gift that comes to individuals who are open to it. Ultimately, he implies that the divine is accessible to all if one learns to truly see.
In practice
In a spiritual gathering, to inspire a deeper connection with 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.
Laws can discover sin, but not remove it
Does this planet have enough resources so seven or eight billion can have the same level of consumption and waste that today is seen in rich societies? It is this level of hyper-consumption that is harming our planet.
We see the world, not as it is, but as we are -- or, as we are conditioned to see it. When we open our mouths to describe what we see, we in effect describe ourselves, our perceptions, our paradigms.
Europe and the world are waiting for us to defend the spirit of Enlightenment, threatened in so many places.
If the highest things are unknowable, then the highest capacity or virtue of man cannot be theoretical wisdom.
We want no revolution; we want the brotherhood of men. We want men to love one another. We want all men to have what is sufficient for their needs. And now - strange thought - the devil has so maneuvered that the people turn from Him because those who profess Him are clothed in soft raiment and sit at well-spread tables and deny the poor.
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