tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-42374841442197152902024-09-01T10:12:20.365-05:00“A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. And he said to the vinedresser, ‘Look, for three years now I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. Cut it down. Why should it use up the ground?’ And he answered him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and put on manure. Then if it should bear fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.’” <a href=http://tinyurl.com/2kvnd8>Luke 13.6-9</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger109125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4237484144219715290.post-23428887901140875152008-05-11T17:58:00.005-05:002008-05-11T18:32:55.026-05:00

Lately we've been twirling the dance floor of spring severe weather with a dance partner that won't let us take a break and sit one out. It seems that the outbreaks have occurred either to disrupt the school day or to disrupt a night's sleep. Being a mild weather geek who lives in a garden home with no basement, this has given me no shortage of anxiety. I'm almost ready to call an end to spring

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4237484144219715290.post-36269872719299655772008-05-03T22:36:00.006-05:002008-05-04T19:18:54.635-05:00

These days, it doesn't take long for numerically-themed discussions to reach the stratosphere: the thousand-thousand, or million, and beyond.Consider these numbers:Birmingham's mayor wants to spend almost one million dollars to provide [irony]free[/irony] bus rides for the summer.Jefferson County's sewer system is over three billion dollars in debt, threatening to bankrupt the county.President

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4237484144219715290.post-44813429475851664812008-04-19T16:22:00.006-05:002008-04-19T18:08:22.385-05:00

If you are going to invite people to your wedding you ought to make the thing memorable. I've been to several weddings where this advice was not heeded. I would tell you some things about them, but I don't remember.I went to a wedding one New Year's eve. The pastor pronounced the couple man and wife at the stroke of midnight. They are now divorced, but I still remember.I went to an engagement

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4237484144219715290.post-65948551239864935222008-04-10T22:47:00.004-05:002008-04-10T23:04:14.150-05:00

I embarked on a journey through The Chronicles of Narnia this week, and I thought I'd read them in chronological order rather than in published order.Apparently that is wrong. Very, very wrong. So I'll just pretend that I don't know where the wood for the wardrobe came from or how the lamp post got there or who Digory Kirke grows up to be.Please accept my apologies if I've offended anyone. I'm

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4237484144219715290.post-53665315907410704912008-03-29T00:35:00.001-05:002008-03-29T00:50:24.728-05:00

I'm taking a six-week course on spiritual formation. The text for the class is Robert Mulholland's Invitation to a Journey: A Roadmap for Spiritual Formation. Mulholland's definition of spiritual formation is "the process of being conformed to the likeness of Christ for the sake of others." Part of his approach to spiritual formation is the idea that we all tend to "do" spiritual formation

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4237484144219715290.post-62203977703991815912008-03-22T14:00:00.001-05:002008-03-22T20:03:11.499-05:00

See Notes on this series...Merton suggests that God made the world so that he could become man and commune with his creation.The earth is not some penal colony for those he has rejected, but the jewel of his creation. Merton cites the first verses of Genesis as a poem of God's garden where God would fellowship with his creatures as creator and dwell among them as brother. He did this because he

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4237484144219715290.post-60235795642423331332008-03-21T23:58:00.001-05:002008-03-22T19:25:53.454-05:00

See Notes on this series...Penultimate chapter, long, and one last one over my head.Merton begins by outlining three modes or beginnings of contemplation: the rare "sudden emptying of the soul," the "desert of aridity," and the "quietud sabrosa," or "savor, rest, and unction."He goes on to describe the idea of "presence" in these modes, and how the feeling of God's presence is not really his

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4237484144219715290.post-76380623504179664392008-03-20T23:28:00.003-05:002008-03-20T23:49:31.883-05:00

See Notes on this series...The title of this chapter is sort of misleading, because the point Merton makes is that contemplation really can't be effectively shared.As the things of this world fade away, we experience God in contemplation, but this not for ourselves but for others. However, there is a paradox for the contemplative: as much as he desires that others know the joy he's experienced in

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4237484144219715290.post-87620340475342600642008-03-20T21:54:00.004-05:002008-03-20T22:51:02.879-05:00

Holy Week and Spring Break coincide for us this year. I took today off to spend with Joan and the kids. We ate at our favorite Mexican place for lunch and then bowled a couple of games. (If you ever get a chance, watch old people bowl. They may barely be able to walk but they can flat out fling that ball and pick up spares like a road gang picks up litter.) We went to the library while Evan took

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4237484144219715290.post-34972023770322874702008-03-19T19:43:00.003-05:002008-03-19T20:07:25.448-05:00

See Notes on this series...Alrighty. I think Merton is talking about the poverty of our beings here. I think. He begins by describing the sad realization our inadequacy provides when compared with our lofty God. We are powerless, even without our sin natures, but factor those into the equation and we are pretty miserable creatures indeed. But there is a certain peace to be found when we hit rock

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4237484144219715290.post-6795281884288126752008-03-18T20:38:00.003-05:002008-03-18T21:11:39.685-05:00

See Notes on this series...Merton champions the routines of "work, poverty, hardship and monotony" that ties together the vast majority of the world's population. He reminds us that Jesus did not surround himself with mystics who sat on mountaintops and chanted the day away, but with working men who were the antithesis of the "professional holy."He says that love of the poor and of poverty are

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4237484144219715290.post-61163691572422341922008-03-17T18:25:00.002-05:002008-03-17T18:32:46.968-05:00

See Notes on this series...Merton warns against misguided emotion, or what he calls "sensible intoxication," here. These "indifferent" emotions can be used for good or bad, he says, but they are a hindrance to contemplation until they can be ignored.The problem is that these "burst[s] of spiritual exuberance" are no better than other physical stimuli for long-term effect, but spiritually and

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4237484144219715290.post-42430890529804412752008-03-15T18:47:00.001-05:002008-03-16T19:02:32.448-05:00

See Notes on this series...The promised land waits for those who allow God to lead them through the wilderness without letting the hardships turn them aside.Merton reiterates here that contemplation is not merely the absence of activity. Rest, passivity, and emptiness lead to a hunger and thirst for God but they are more than a dead mind and a petrified will or lazy prayer that "degenerate into

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4237484144219715290.post-84815296535186681412008-03-14T18:38:00.003-05:002008-03-14T21:17:56.873-05:00

See Notes on this series...Merton cautions that the contemplative life rarely begins with a vivid, light-bathed experience with God. More often it is a gradual build-up over time. Those who wait for the flash of lightning will likely be disappointed and waste a lot of time. In those cases when the flash does come, that does not guarantee contemplation; contemplation is acquired essentially by

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4237484144219715290.post-38849186558775980802008-03-13T20:21:00.004-05:002008-03-13T20:48:11.540-05:00

See Notes on this series...God created us, says Merton, for contemplation, that is, knowing and loving him through supernatural means. There ought to be a familiarity to it, since we were designed for it.Merton says that the clearest experience of natural awareness is like being asleep compared to the supernatural awareness as we see God in his reality and we begin to live in the reality of who

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4237484144219715290.post-897844952011404812008-03-12T20:56:00.001-05:002008-03-13T21:18:26.666-05:00

See Notes on this series..."Prayer and love are really learned in the hour when prayer becomes impossible and your heart turns to stone."Merton says the person who is never distracted doesn't know how to pray. Distractions are necessary trials in the contemplative life. We need to learn to work through them rather than avoid them.The danger is not in the distraction from desiring God, but in the

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4237484144219715290.post-12249066797836975772008-03-11T20:55:00.001-05:002008-03-13T22:01:40.447-05:00

See Notes on this series...Merton states here that techniques of meditation and mental prayer are fine as long as we set them aside once in a while in order to let our mind do its job. He says the purpose of meditation books is to teach us to think instead of doing our thinking for us. Simply reading these books is wasteful, he says, because we aren't allowing them to stimulate our thinking.

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4237484144219715290.post-48056834977579408992008-03-10T20:54:00.001-05:002008-03-14T18:52:19.675-05:00

See Notes on this series...Loving things for the sake of those things cripples judgment and discernment, says Merton. Even those who have forsaken the world for "pious practices" can fall into this trap over prayer, fasting, books, and even contemplation itself. Merton says that attachment to spiritual things can be just as strong as attachment to material things and may even be harder to

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4237484144219715290.post-57478182986963639392008-03-08T15:49:00.003-06:002008-03-08T16:06:54.058-06:00

See Notes on this series...Blessedly short chapter today. Merton declares that the simple choice between good and evil does not represent true freedom. The only notable thing about this choice is the option of good. Evil as an option, though, negates freedom, because, Merton says, when we choose evil under those circumstances we do so believing the choice is good for us when in fact it isn't.True

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4237484144219715290.post-49768261119907014282008-03-07T18:01:00.003-06:002008-03-07T18:22:12.493-06:00

See Notes on this series...Merton declares here that sanctification is rarely achieved outside of community. Living out our weaknesses among others who are living out their weaknesses diminishes our egos and enables God's spirit to work. He points to the potential eccentricities of hermits to back up his claim. He asks a series of rhetorical questions sarcastically describing the protected

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4237484144219715290.post-46252469937648534602008-03-06T23:59:00.002-06:002008-03-07T16:58:15.661-06:00

See Notes on this series...Long chapter with some timely points.Merton describes despair as a matter of pride so deep that it is willing to accept eternal condemnation rather than acknowledging the person and power of God and accepting his joy. Truly humble men cannot despair because they don't possess the self-pity that is required.Merton again declares the absolute necessity for humility in the

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4237484144219715290.post-58052860985044318222008-03-05T00:01:00.000-06:002008-03-04T21:10:32.601-06:00

See Notes on this series...(Weird capitalization in the chapter title, but I just typed it as I saw it.)This whole short chapter needs to be quoted here, for it is full of challenging wisdom.First, Merton declares that a dead soldier is just as dead if killed by one enemy or many, and he compares that the affect that one sinful habit has in a life seemingly filled with virtues.Then, he condemns

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4237484144219715290.post-91709131242327321112008-03-04T00:01:00.001-06:002008-03-03T21:04:44.643-06:00

See Notes on this series...Merton's most Catholic chapter thus far is a tribute to the Blessed Virgin.He states that most non-Catholics misunderstand devotion to Mary, almost like it is our fault. He states that Mary's appeal is in her "nothingness," and that nothing she did was done on her own, outside of the work of God. He says the son and the mother cannot be separated because she, above all

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4237484144219715290.post-951403321067050002008-03-03T20:17:00.004-06:002008-03-03T20:42:14.617-06:00

See Notes on this series...From the mystery of Christ to the mystery of life in Christ goes Merton in this chapter.Christ brings together the natures of God and man through the Holy Spirit into what the New Testament calls the "new man." This life in Christ is a two-way street: that which we receive from God by the Spirit we give back to God as we love our brothers through the Spirit.This life

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4237484144219715290.post-64700399804864580152008-03-01T19:40:00.004-06:002008-03-01T20:44:07.340-06:00

See Notes on this series...Merton tackles the incarnation in this fine chapter.All experience of God comes to us through Christ, Merton writes. God's truth and love are concentrated through his birth, death, resurrection, and ascension like sunlight through a magnifying glass. God and man become inseparable, and access to the supernatural becomes available to all, through him. Faith in him is "

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0