- Finding his true self. He said that "a person is created by God as an individual so that God wants him or her to be themselves."
- Living in the present moment because that is where you find God and holiness.
- Paying careful attention to what one is doing. "Every moment in life can be a prayer if it is dedicated to God."
- Finally, Loving God and your fellow man and having compassion for him.
I try to avoid thinking of endings and beginnings, or their resolution, on the occasion of the New Year; this is a continuum, after all. But the invitation is all around. The first statement from Lax reminded me of one from Merton. I had to fish for it. It is from an October 1958 journal entry:
ReplyDeleteFinally I am coming to the conclusion that my highest ambition is to be what I already am. That I will never fulfill my obligation to surpass myself unless I first accept myself, and if I accept myself fully in the right way, I will already have surpassed myself.
If I believed in making resolutions on one particular day, and if that day were New Year's, and if today were that particular New Year's Day, this is the resolution I would make.
Me too, John C.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the Merton reference.
Someone sent me this New Year's Day quote, which seems also relevant:
"I believe that God is in me as the sun is in the color and fragrance of a flower - the Light in my darkness, the Voice in my silence."
~ Helen Keller
You can see element 2. in Lax's poetry - the lack of metaphor or simile in Lax. What a great name: Lax - it sounds like Dr. Seuss: "relax said Mr. Lax, and you'll find light in the cracks!"
ReplyDeletewonderful! You should write a Dr. Seuss-like book about Mr. Lax, Gunter. All the elements are there.
ReplyDeleteNot a bad idea - he had the right kind of face for Seussish illustrations too!
ReplyDeleteYou're right! I think it's a great idea, and I'm sure Lax would love to be caricatured in a Seussish book. Do you know any good artists? I've got lots of ideas for a story line!
ReplyDeleteI think I could manage the illustrations: I used to do a lot of cartooning. Were you thinking of a circus angle?
ReplyDeleteThe circus angle is the only way to go, don't you think?
ReplyDeleteI need to re-fresh myself with some Dr. Seuss books, and then I'll see what I can come up with. This might really be a good idea, Gunter! Maybe we shouldn't talk about it publicly anymore, lest someone steal our idea!