Life's Journey with God

Thomas Merton and The Dalai Lama pictured at Dharamsala, India in November of 1968. Why can we not be content with the secret gift of the happiness that God offers us, without consulting the rest of the world? Why do we insist, rather, on a happiness that is approved by the magazines and TV? Perhaps because we do not believe in a happiness that is given to us for nothing. We do not think we can be happy with a happiness that has no price tag on it. – Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander #84, published in 1966  Over the years I’ve come to understand a little better how joy differs from happiness. It is something that is not a causal effect of experience something in the moment. Being happy can often feel like that – a fleeting moment that I so anxiously want to hold on to and be in that moment forever because I don’t know when next I would feel that euphoric emotion again. Yet the joy which comes from the Lord is a much more stable rather than an erratic moment. It comes from a space w...

A short introductory plague of Merton (1915 - 1968) at the Thomas Merton Center Foundation. In our society, a society of business rooted in Puritanism, based on the pseudo-ethic of industriousness and thrift, to be rewarded by comfort, pleasure, and a good bank account, the myth of work is thought to justify an existence that is essentially meaningless and futile. There is, then, a great deal of busy-ness as people invent things to do when in fact there is very little to be done. Yet we are overt, whelmed with jobs, duties, tasks, assignments, “missions” of every kind. At every moment we are sent north, south, east, and west by the angels of business and art, poetry and politics, science and war, to the four corners of the universe to decide something, to sign something, to buy and sell. We fly in all directions to sell ourselves, thus justifying the absolute nothingness of our lives. The more we seem to accomplish, the harder it becomes to really dissimulate our trifling, and the only...

One common question that is often asked by young people is “What is the meaning of life?” . Yet, behind that question lies a greater one: “Who am I?” .  Before we can even find out what our lives are made for, it only makes sense to go back to our identity. After all, when we are able to name for ourselves our personality, our likes and dislikes, our strengths and weaknesses, and our dreams and desires, would we be able to live life fully with purpose. Thomas Merton, Roman Catholic monk, poet, and spiritual writer of the 20th century, explains that “at the center of our being is a point of nothingness which is untouched by sin and illusion – a point of pure truth, a point or spark which belongs entirely to God. This point is the pure glory of God in us. It is like a pure diamond and is in everybody.” [1] To break it down, Merton speaks about how there is a part within us that lies our true identity of how God sees us. It is not distorted by sin, by the brokenness of this world, nor...

This is my second post reflecting on the writings of Henri Nouwen. I enjoy reading his writings because they are intimate, real and honest. It allows me to have a glimpse of what he went through during his life, and the journey he's had. This particular section, though I have not finished the chapter, is profound for me in my current season and I would like to store it for memory. Here I will quote his writing taken from the book Discernment, pages 97 to 99: "What is God calling me to do? Where is God calling me to go? Where do I belong?  "From the beginning, two inner voices have been speaking to me: one the says "Make something of your life, find a good career," and one that says, "Be sure you stay close to the heart of Jesus, never lose touch with your vocation." There was a struggle, a tension there. "Early in life, I pleased my father and mother immensely by studying, then teaching, then becoming somewhat well known by going...

The Need of the Elder Son to Please Nouwen’s personal experience of the elder son is something I relate to as well.   In his writing, he hopes to be able to “offer some hope to people caught in the resentment that is the bitter fruit of their need to please ”.   In my life, this has always been the one thing that I feel bounded by – the responsibilities and expectations of what I need to do for the family – to the point where it becomes an unhealthy bitterness in how I see and live my life. Nouwen offers an imperative approach to make this return possible: we must not only recognize that we are lost but also be prepared to be found and brought home. Through Trust and Gratitude How? Nouwen writes that “although we are incapable of liberating ourselves from our frozen anger,   we can allow ourselves to be found by God and healed by his love through the concrete and daily practice of trust and gratitude”. Without trust, I cannot let myself be found by the Father...

"We need to move from maintenance to mission mode." It's something that I've been hearing for the past one month or more from my parish priest. It's also something that I truly believe is necessary for the growth and the good of the Church. "I dream of a missionary option, that is, a missionary impulse capable of transforming everything, so that the Church's customs, ways of doing things, times and schedules, language and structures can be suitably channeled for the evangelization of today's world rather than for her self-preservation." —Pope Francis, Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, 24 November 2013 3 months ago, I embarked on my first ever mission trip to Europe, specifically through the cities of Istanbul, Paris, Berlin and some parts of Poland. I never thought I would one day be a part of a mission trip as the idea seemed so far away to me. How could God ever use me when I feel so unequipped and carry brokenness in me? ...