the "world" that Christ would not pray for

"What is the 'world' that Christ would not pray for, and of which He said that His disciples were in it but not of it? The world is the unquiet city of those who live for themselves and are therefore divided against one another in a struggle that cannot end, or it will go on eternally in hell. It is the city of those who are fighting for possession of limited things and for the monopoly of good and pleasures that cannot be shared by all."

(NEW SEEDS OF CONTEMPLATION, page 78)

- from Wayne Burns "AM with Merton"