Our Spiritual Guides
Thomas Merton
(1915-1968) Trappist Monk and author, whose writings make the wisdom of the contemplative life available to people living ordinary, busy lives.
"One of the most important - and most neglected - elements in the beginnings of the interior life is the ability to respond to reality, to see the value and the beauty in ordinary things, to come alive to the splendor that is all around us in the creatures of God." No Man Is an Island
"To know anything at all of God's will we have to participate...in the vision of the prophets: men and women who were always alive to the divine light concealed in the opacity of things and events, and who sometimes saw glimpses of that light where other men saw nothing but ordinary happenings." No Man Is an Island
"We see things as they are not, because we see them centered on ourselves. Fear, anxiety, greed, ambition, and our hopeless need for pleasure all distort the image of reality that is reflected in our minds." No Man Is an Island
"To work out our own identity in God...demands close attention to reality at every moment, and great fidelity to God as He reveals Himself, obscurely, in the mystery of each new situation." New Seeds of Contemplation