Saturday,
March 10, 2012
What to read for
today.
Chapter 15:Sentences
Questions for your
personal reflection.
What does the word “faith” mean to you? Is your definition an act of “exercising
your liberty” or “the acceptance of a decision that has been made by someone
else”?
Sharing with others:
What caught your attention or provoked your thinking today?
Little by little, I see Merton
challenging us to take on a mature Christianity, to grow up as it were. From this chapter I understand that a
mature Christianity includes (1) letting go of resentments (2) generously
accepting Christians whose view of Jesus is distasteful or ridiculous to us,
and (3) thinking for ourselves, i.e. doing our own spiritual work instead of
blindly accepting the decisions that others like parents have made on our
behalf. It sounds to me like
Merton is repeatedly telling us to take responsibility for our own interior life.
Posted by Genevieve.
Posted by Second Thoughts
ReplyDeleteThe chapter had many themes. The one that stood out for me was the one about resentment. Resentment is about blaming other people. Basically, Merton says Get over it. Transcend resentment and use the situation as the proper exercise of your freedom. The thing is - once you give up resentment and stop pinning the blame on someone else, you also have to take responsibility for doing something. No wonder we prefer to hold on to resentment!
I see this chapter as akin to proverbs. a series of thoughts or maxims if you will that speak to us about how to be in the world and be Christian. For the most part I found them very helpful and insightful. He spoke as one who understands the human mind and condition. -the comparison of crows and attraction to glitter instead of substance for example.
ReplyDeleteI had rea trouble though with his comment about dealing with others who profess a christian faith but do things differently.even very differently. I'm not sure i can
"go there" or as he puts it accept and love them yet. That may be a step I have yet to take.
post by william
From Genevieve
DeleteThanks for that reference to proverbs. Until you said that, I did not understand the title of the chapter which is "Sentences". It seems obvious now that you have said it. It is like a chapter of individual blog postings. Until I got that bit, I was getting distressed by the way it hopped around.
This is why it is helpful to hear what other people think.