Thursday, May 8, 2008

the freedom of thomas merton

“ … there is still so much to learn, so much deepening to be done, so much to surrender. My real business is something far different from simply giving out words and ideas and “doing things” – even to help others. The best thing I can give to others is to liberate myself from the common delusions and be, for myself and for them, free. Then grace can work in and through me for everyone.”
- Thomas Merton, June 29, 1968, p. 135, The Other Side of the Mountain
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4 comments:

  1. AnonymousMay 10, 2008 at 9:22 AM

    Do you know what he thought were the "common delusions"?

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  2. beth cioffolettiMay 10, 2008 at 10:53 AM

    among others:
    "when we see crime in others, we try to correct it by destroying them or at least putting them out of sight."

    "We find it very hard to identify our sin with our will and our own malice."

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousJanuary 13, 2011 at 2:58 PM

    Beth, where did you draw the quote about malice from?

    Br. William

    ReplyDelete
  4. beth cioffolettiJanuary 13, 2011 at 3:43 PM

    not sure. I assume it comes from the same context as the original quote. I'm not home now - but will be in a week. I'll look it up then.

    ReplyDelete