The only trouble is that in the spiritual life there are no tricks and no shortcuts. Those who imagine that they can discover spiritual gimmicks and put them to work for themselves usually ignore God’s will and his grace.
We must approach our meditation realizing that ‘grace,’ ‘mercy,’ and ‘faith’ are not permanent inalienable possessions which we gain by our efforts and retain as though by right, provided that we behave ourselves. They are CONSTANTLY RENEWED GIFTS. The life of grace in our hearts is renewed from moment to moment, directly and personally by God in his love for us.
True contemplation is not a psychological trick but a theological grace. It can come to us ONLY as a gift, and not as a result of our own clever use of spiritual techniques
++++ Thoughts from Thomas Merton
There are some fascinating words of Jesus in John 17: 23&24, “The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.” Have you ever pondered on this passage? What does it mean to be one with God? Further, why are we one with Him?
The contemplative monk Thomas Merton had this to say about the passage. “The seeds of this perfect life are planted in every Christian soul at
Baptism. But seeds must grow and develop before you reap the harvest. There are thousands of Christians walking about the face of the earth bearing in their bodies the infinite God of whom they know practically nothing.”
Life would be so different if only we recognized and nourished these precious seeds we bear in our souls. God has given each of us a small part of himself. After all, we are created in the “image and likeness” of God. The pilgrimage of a lifetime is to discover and nurture that precious gift God has given us. We discover this
gift as we spend time with Him-fully open to His presence. We can pray, fast, meditate, worship and engage in sacred reading, all with the objective of allowing our master to complete this process. It is so very sad that so many people never allow for the development of the divine within themselves.
Prayer
Lord, help me to find you. Guide me to look in the right places with the right motive. Keep me away from selfish and vain journeys that I might say are a search for the divine.
Amen
A Pastor's Thoughts 
Amen. It’s an uncovering, almost, to recognise God within ourselves. I am neither as eloquent nor as accomplished as Thomas Merton, but I can see where he’s coming from – and it’s something I’m trying to establish and trying to put into words the journey.
I’ve not been in the blogosphere for a while. It’s great to see that you’re still here, Irvin. In my absence I’ve been delving a lot into Richard Rohr and I have you to thank for introducing me to his writing, so thank you! 🙂
It’s super to hear from you again. We just had Richard Rhor in New Orleans for a conference. I was privileged to be one of the hosts for the event. That allowed me to have a personal chat with him. Here’s the link to our School for Contemplative. Scroll down and you will be able to listen to all of the conference lectures. Prayers, Irvin
Thank you!