A Prayer of Thomas Merton

Thomas Merton was a monk who wrote many books on spirituality. As such his personal devotional life must have contained many hours of prayer and contemplation. Those of us who struggle with the complexities of modern life often feel guilty that time for our spiritual devotions can get squeezed out. I certainly expected a wise spiritual monk to have a clear vision of what God wanted from him.

How reassuring then to find that he wrote the following prayer. This indicates that he could feel as unclear regarding the direction that God wanted for his life as the rest of us sometimes feel. Yet it also is full of a confident, trusting faith. Holding together faith and uncertainty is central to my Christian journey.

The Prayer of Thomas Merton
My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road, though I may know nothing about it. Therefore I will trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone. Amen.

THINK before you press the send button

Some people treat their keyboard as an extension of the subconscious - they do not filter what they write and send it unfiltered to others. Hence the way people on e-groups express far more extreme views and verbally attack others in a way that they would never do in real life. Perhaps this is because we do not see the other person at the other end of cyberspace as a real person? We know that we will never have to look them in the eye.

I read the following advice today that would help to keep the "flame wars", as online arguments are called, within acceptable boundaries. It would also help us to consider very carefully before we commit to send that angry email. Once sent into the ether, that message exists for all time and could be something that will come back and haunt us!

So here is the advice for times when we feel obliged to make our feelings known, especially if we intend to put them in writing:

Remember each letter of the word think.....
THINK!
Is it True?
Is it Helpful?
Is it Inspiring?
Is it Necessary?
Is it Kind?

If we paused and considered THINK before we pressed the send button, the Internet and all electronic communication would be transformed. A new community built on values we could be proud to be associated with would be built. Perhaps we could even practice such a review in all our face to face interactions too! Now that would have a transformative effect!

Planned Spontaneity

When is spontaneity really spontaneous?

I am puzzling about spontaneity following my experiences yesterday.

I sang in a "flash mob" hallelujah chorus at the Kelvingrove in Glasgow. It was a fantastic experience - the acoustics in the hall were superb and the organ must be one of the grandest in all Scotland.

But was it spontaneous as there was careful planning. The organist knew he was finishing the daily recital with this particular piece of Handel. The programme was published. Many local choirs had been emailed and the word spread virally on the web. And people like me travelled by cycle, train and underground with a total journey time of over an hour to be there. Nothing spontaneous then?

But it felt spontaneous. There had been no rehearsal. (so perhaps we were a bit out of time/tune!) It was a fun and rewarding thing to be part of. I suppose that I'll have to wait for the inevitable you-tube video to see how it actually sounded!

But there was also something yesterday that was completely spontaneous. In the evening I went to an excellent pantomime at the macrobert. (Snow White and the seven De Wharffs) In one of the big scenes "Prince Charming Darling" is lying dead in the arms of Snow White after having bitten the poisoned apple ( It is panto so the traditional story gets amended ) and she is wailing along the lines "Oh my beloved is dead - what shall I do".

At this point of dramatic tension a wee boy in the audience shouts out helpfully "He's dead - get over it!"

She carried on bravely and sang her song but that sort of true spontaneity perhaps she could have done without!!!!