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| In Gary Wilson's garage |
C.S. Lewis takes me back 40 years to when I became a Jesus-follower and was introduced to Lewis. My copy of the first Merton book (Through the Year...) is falling apart from years of use. I've got the other Merton book on my Kindle. Lewis and Merton are brilliant and deep. I admire Merton for many reasons, the greatest of which is his prayer life. Merton had a prayer life. He actually spent much time praying. Enough said.
Here's the May 8 reading from A Year with Thomas Merton. Simmer in this one.
"I will never reach [God] by my own efforts, my own wisdom. [So stop striving.] I give up all my plans, as if I had any in the first place. Forget what other people do; their virtues and their faults are none of my business. [Write that sentence on a card and carry it with you this week.] Be guided by obedience even if it seems to lead to the ruin of my aspirations. [It will.] Easier to write it than to do it. I wonder if I mean it, too, to go on in this hopeless muddle of writing and activities and contacts with the world, and trust that that can bring me to God? Yes, that is what I have got to do... I feel in my bones that I will never have any peace until I kiss everything good-bye, even my highest ideals and aspirations. God only tolerates one desire: perfectly doing his will and being annihilated for his glory."
The annihilation of self is needed so that Christ in you can be glorified.
