Thomas Merton
Thomas Merton
Thomas Merton, O.C.S.O.was an American Catholic writer and mystic. A Trappist monk of the Abbey of Gethsemani, Kentucky, he was a poet, social activist, and student of comparative religion. In 1949, he was ordained to the priesthood and given the name Father Louis...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionPhilosopher
Date of Birth31 January 1915
CityPrades, France
CountryUnited States of America
wisdom prayer inspired
The only thing to seek in contemplative prayer is God; and we seek Him successfully when we realize that we cannot find Him unless He shows Himself to us, and yet at the same time that He would not have inspired us to seek Him unless we had already found Him.
spring catholic action
Action is the stream, and contemplation is the spring.
art prayer leisure
The true contemplative is one who has discovered the art of finding leisure even in the midst of his work, by working with such a spirit of detachment and recollection that even his work is a prayer
peace humanity peace-with-god
We are not at peace with others because we are not at peace with ourselves, and we are not at peace with ourselves because we are not at peace with God
journey goes-on
For although God is right with us and in us and out of us and all through us, we have to go on journeys to find him.
purpose life-is our-lives
The purpose of our lives is to find the purpose of our lives.
heart capacity-to-love giving
Fear narrows the little entrance of our heart. It shrinks up our capacity to love. It freezes up our power to give ourselves.
thank-you gratitude awakening
Gratitude takes nothing for granted, is never unresponsive, is constantly awakening to new wonder.
life thinking enemy
Do not be too quick to assume your enemy is a savage just because he is your enemy. Perhaps he is your enemy because he thinks you are a savage. Or perhaps he is afraid of you because he feels that you are afraid of him. And perhaps if he believed you are capable of loving him he would no longer be your enemy.
differences joy looks
Do not look for rest in any pleasure, because you were not created for pleasure: you were created for joy. And if you do not know the difference between pleasure and joy you have not yet begun to live.
people
A faith that is afraid of other people is not faith at all.
devil important theology
In the devil's theology, the important thing is to be absolutely right and to prove that everybody else is absolutely wrong.
christian age church
Each individual Christian and each new age of the Church has to make this rediscovery, this return to the source of Christian life.
pieces world mouths
From the moment you put a piece of bread in your mouth you are part of the world. Who grew the wheat? Who made the bread? Where did it come from? You are in relationship with all who brought it to the table. We are least separate and most in common when we eat and drink.