Before you head off into this fall weekend, here are three things that I’ve read and been thinking about this week. They are all from Thomas Merton’s book New Seeds of Contemplation. I could not recommend this book more.
Have a great weekend!
#1
Even though my soul may be justified, if my mind does not belong to him then neither do I. (p43)
It is one thing to call Jesus your Savior. It is another to embrace him as Lord. One is trusting in an insurance policy or get out of the place of eternal separation from God card. The other is to embrace the kingdom of heaven in this moment and then for all moments to come. When Jesus becomes Lord in addition to Savior, he fundamentally changes not only how we feel but how we think and how we act.
You may have given your soul to Jesus. What about the rest of you?
#2
The whole truth of Christianity has been revealed in Christ. But it has not been fully understood or lived. (p143)
It’s all there in Jesus. Truth that is. But just like an immense forest, there are always things we haven’t seen yet, places we haven’t been, and experiences we have not had. That is why the appropriate posture for a Christian is that of a perpetual learner. Someone who wakes up each morning asking the Lord, “What do you want to show me today?”
#3
Burning with self-admiration feels like the love of God and pride can feel like the Holy Ghost. (p50)
We can be duped by the enemy that our good feelings about life and pride in our accomplishments can be signs of God’s presence. They may be God’s presence or they may be the “high” of personal satisfaction that we have finally figured it out or finally gotten it right. Quite frankly, I am not sure how to tell the difference in the short term. In the long term God’s presence will always impact the entirety of our lives with a permanence that goes well beyond a fleeting feeling.
todd nelson 