...It's fitting that I would finish the last chapter - "The Wind Blows Where It Pleases" - of Thomas Merton's No Man Is an Island the day after Pentecost. When Merton is on, he is on! Amazing what he can do with language. What I appreciate is his precision of word selection. In this book, for him, every word counts. A writer, a philosopher, writing prose like a poet - but not writing prose poetry. All glorifying God. I love it. This quote is from that last chapter:
His love cannot be at
peace in a soul that is content with a little. For to be content with a little
is to will to continue in need.
This is from the chapter on "Vocation." A friend gave this text to me five years ago, and it changed my life. Today, it's still bringing clarity and challenge to my life:
In planning the course of
our lives, we must remember the importance and the dignity of our own freedom.
A man who fears to settle his future by a good act of his own free choice does
not understand the love of God. For our freedom is a gift God has given us in
order that He may be able to love us more perfectly, and be loved by us more
perfectly in return.
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Have you hopped on the Josh Garrels fan train? I think of "Farther Along" when I think about freedom these days!
I hope these words of Merton also challenge and encourage others to seek more freedom in Jesus Christ!
