CONTEMPLATIVE CONNECTIONS
REFLECTION IV

Which Road Are You On?

Thomas Merton’s famous prayer begins, “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.” 

Knowing where we are going gives us a sense of certainty and control.  Not knowing where we are going creates anxiety.  We tend to view our lives in the context of a great number of external factors.  Whether it is the economy, the war, the threat of terrorism or issues closer to home such as employment or healthcare, they can occupy our mind and influence our mood, emotions and behavior.  It is difficult to understand the wide range of forces affecting us and easy to feel lost in our efforts to know what to do about them and where to find answers or direction.

But Merton speaks of not knowing where we are going in a different context --“Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following your will does not necessarily mean I am actually doing so.”   His context is the inner life, that of knowing one’s self and the will of God, and finding the purpose and meaning of our lives. 

Then what are we to do? “But I believe the desire to please you does in fact please you.  And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing.”  … “Therefore, I will trust you always…”  

Desiring to please God and trusting are essential prerequisites, but how can we know ourselves and follow God’s will?  The answer for Merton was to live contemplatively -- attending to the everyday relationships with himself, God, others, and nature in a way that brought purpose and meaning to his life.  Contemplative living is much more than living a quieter, less busy, more prayerful life and certainly does not require becoming a monk or nun.

The essence of contemplative living is relationships and unity.  By getting in touch with the unity of everyday relationships we do not just intellectualize that we, God, others and nature are one, but we feel it, know it, and live it.  Through an ongoing process of self discovery, contemplative living leads us to take personal responsibility for all of our relationships and thus to a deeper sense of purpose and meaning. Ultimately it influences the direction of our lives, our society and culture.  It is true, we cannot know for certain where the road will end, but we can be certain that we are on the right road.

© 2008 The Merton Institute for Contemplative Living

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