Thursday,
March 15, 2012
What to read for
today.
Chapter 19:From Faith to Wisdom
Questions for your
personal reflection.
Back to the word “faith”. Is this an adequate word for what Merton is trying to
convey?
Sharing with others:
What caught your attention or provoked your thinking today?
I found myself wishing that Merton
had used a substitute for “faith” or eliminated it altogether because once
again I sensed confusion or contradiction. If faith is “the incorporation of the unknown and the
unconscious into our daily life” I’m all for it. On the other hand, if faith is
“acceptance of truths proposed by authority” I’m a lot less interested. Besides, in Chapter 15 Merton suggested
that “blind conformity to a decision made by someone else” was the mark of an
immature Christian.
Posted by Genevieve.
Posted by Second Thoughts
ReplyDeleteReading this chapter so soon after the previous one, I am getting cranky.
Merton keeps insisting that you have to begin with authoritative verbal statements "about" the Light such as one finds in articles of faith or creeds. He seems to be saying that as a necessary starting point you have to assent to a creed e.g. be a believer, and that if you aren't a believer, you cannot have any interior illumination. In fairness, he does say that in the end you have to go way beyond those verbal statements, but why does he keep insisting that they are the only gate? We know that's not true. There are millions of people all over the world who are having experiences of God, the Light, or whatever you want to call it, without knowing anything about the "revealed truths" of Christianity.
Let me try to be more generous. Is Merton just saying that if you've been shown one gate you should accept that gate and then pass though it to see what's on the other side? OK then. As long as we can agree that there is more than one gate.
I believe that I understand what you're saying, Genevieve, except that as is often so in these kinds of matters, our language can never quite match the concept.
ReplyDeleteThat is, for me, the definition of faith could probably be expressed more precisely as, "the incorporation, in acceptance of truths proposed by a trusted authority, of the unknown and the unconscious into our daily life".
Thus the two statements blend.
Of course, two key words are "proposed" (not "dictated") and "trusted" (not "feared").
I think that accepting blindly is respectable if it is done in a state of humility that the trusted authority has superior reason to be right relative to the faithful acceptor. Such as, for example, the authority of the magisterium of The Church and the learning, experience and maturity of The Church's agent, usually the priest.
That is indeed immaturity but I don't think there's anything wrong with that. We are all beginners at everything at some stage. Then, in God's time, method and degree, experience will confirm (or not), and bring about growth and maturity (or not). God's will be done.
I agree, Anonymous, and my reference to "authority" in my reply to Genevieve could as well be in Mecca, Jerusalem or Amritsar. Valid enlightenment occurs outside formal authority too, of course.
ReplyDelete. . . and just a little addendum to my previous comments. - - Whatever Merton tried to convey was as a converted mid-20th-Century Roman Catholic who gave his entirety to become a Cistercian (OCSO - Order of the Strict Observance) "Trappist" monk who has sworn total obedience to his abbot. So his language, his phraseolgy, will show that. (Even though sometimes his obedience to authority was also sometimes self-confessed as being reluctant, such as his limited permissions to be a hermit and his being ordered to travel to spread his teachings.)
ReplyDeleteFrom Genevieve
DeleteThanks for your comments Bettie.
Throughout the day I've been reflecting on this chapter and Merton's general approach to faith in this particular book. I share your observations about Merton's vows and monastic order but I still wonder if that accounts for why he is so insistent on the received truths of Christianity.
I'm particularly puzzled because I know from other reading that Merton had a very, very sophisticated understanding of and deep respect for other religious traditions. For heaven's sake, he gave seminars to novice monks on Sufism. He couldn't possibly have believed that his was the only way. See also Merton's "Mystics and Zen Masters" which was published around the time that he revised "New Seeds of Contemplation" where he says that Westerners have a prejudice that their world is the "whole world" and that it was time for every educated person to begin to understand the thought traditions of Asia which were (in his words) profoundly spiritual.
The only explanation I've come up with for his preoccupation with received truths from authority is that he was writing this book for a specific audience. At any rate, I love the way Merton's writing provokes thought.
I wasn't sure Merton knew what he was trying to say here. I felt like I was going around in tautological circles with no way out. Faith- " the very obscurity of faith is an argument of its perfection" I found this chapter most confusing.
ReplyDeleteI understand you can't comprehend the divine.- but why not leave it at that instead of using pitifully imperfect language to try to explain it- and refine it and subdivide it- until you are talking about the number of angels on a pin head. it only gets you more confused
He talked about the rituals - i get that too- people need ritual- it gives them comfort, a sense of belonging, a purpose- life skills- all those things which help us through the long dark night-
so what am i saying? I guess this section sound a little like sophistry and that disappointed me. perhaps another re-reading will help
post by william