Someone told me that fifty years ago when a book was published only 60% of each page was print in and 40% was margins. The margin was a place where the reader could make notes to himself, ask questions, or jot down points to ponder. Today in the publishing industry, the margins are only 20% of the page, leaving little room to ponder or wonder or think. In similar fashion, we have filled our lives all the way to the edge of the page, leaving little margin in our lives for contemplation or meditation.
Is that a picture of your life? If so, make an effort to change. There are so many of us who just accept things and never reexamine our lives for deeper meaning. Take time to think today, and offer your thoughts to God. Be silent enough, long enough, to let God speak to you. Thomas Merton said, “By meditation I penetrate the inmost ground of my life, seek the full understanding of God’s will for me, of God’s mercy to me, of my absolute dependence upon him.” If each of us would just stop long enough to give God a chance to penetrate our shield of activity, wondrous things would follow.
It was a life changing experience when I began to practice periodic times of meditation and contemplation as part of my journey with God. These times have allowed me to focus on my life and have been both disturbing and illuminating. All in all, I have experienced a great renewal of faith in these times of simple silence and introspection.
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- Thomas Merton, The New Man (jkinak04.wordpress.com)
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