Tuesday,
April 3, 2012
What to read for
today.
Chapter 35:Renunciation
Questions for your
personal reflection.
What would today be like if, just for today, you refrained
from “directing those you have not been appointed to direct, reforming those
you have not been asked to reform, correcting those over whom you have no
jurisdiction”?
Sharing with others:
What caught your attention or provoked your thinking today?
One of the themes in this chapter is humility and false
humility. One can be humble
performing physical tasks like gardening or cooking. But one can be equally
humble by using one’s intellectual powers. The thing to watch out for is vanity. Merton urges us not to claim ownership
of our capabilities but to simply accept them and then to cheerfully carry out life’s
duties.
A related point is to stick to your own knitting,
meaning to spend time improving yourself and stop trying to reform everyone
else.
Posted by Genevieve
Posted by Second Thoughts
ReplyDeleteThis was such a rich chapter and I particularly liked the part about a contemplative learning to mind his own business! To answer the question posed, if I stopped trying to reform everybody else and the world, I would be easier to get along with. I would leave others to the grace to be themselves in their own time.
This chapter also reminded me of a previous chapter (the despair chapter?) where Merton says that wallowing in your own misery is just a form of conceit and self-love. When he talks about accepting the insecurity of the poor, I see that my personal insecurities are a form of self-absorbtion and they flow from thinking that I am the only one responsible. I cannot possibly know the kind of material insecurity that Merton is referring to and, as Merton points out, it is egotistical to believe that you alone are in charge of your true identity. There's the matter of grace.
Today I will try to apply the acceptance that Merton encourages us to adopt. I will also try to be aware of my "secret attachments", the ones that make me feel virtuous but which are really a form of conceit.
From Genevieve
DeleteAcceptance is a good word, something I too will try to apply. Or as Yoda would say, Do or not do. Is no try."
I felt like he was trying to cover a lot of ground here. Renunciation of quite a number of things. But I think it is also about acceptance. not only of others but ourselves and whatever circumstances we find ourselves in. Avoiding the material world in large part is central to his theme here. I think that he is really making the point that if we are caught up in the world and its goings on, materially we miss the parts of life that matter. I also found the comment about reforming those you have not been asked to reform resonated with me. How many times have I "instructed " friends , family etc on how they"should" do something , behave etc.-scary
ReplyDeletesomething to keep an eye on
post by william