“A writer has to pass through a certain apprenticeship; and the cure for this natural vagueness is to choose small precise subjects, to say all we have in our minds about them, and to stop when we have finished; not to aim at fine writing, but at definiteness and clearness.”
Benson, Arthur Christopher. “Authorship” in From a College Window. New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1906, p. 212
“If, then, you are intent on ‘becoming a contemplative’ you will probably waste your time and do yourself considerable harm by reading this book. But if in some sense you are already a contemplative (whether you know it or not makes little difference), you will perhaps not only read the book with a kind of obscure awareness that it is meant for you, but you may even find yourself having to read the thing whether it fits in with your plans or not. In that event, just read it. Do not watch for results, for they will already have been produced long before you will be capable of seeing them. And pray for me, because from now on we are, in some strange way, good friends.”
Merton, Thomas. The Inner Experience: Notes on Contemplation. Edited and with an Introduction by William H. Shannon. NY: HarperOne, 2003 (NOTE: Merton wrote this in 1959!), pp. 2-3
"The discovery of our true self does not simply produce freedom. It also generates vocation. … First, we are called to be human beings. … A second level of calling is to be Christians. …
“But we can also think of our calling in terms of our mission in the world, the way of living out our uniqueness within the more general call to become fully human as we follow Jesus toward union with God. Gordon Smith notes that–much bigger than a career, job or occupation–our unique calling will be based on our gifts and abilities, will grow out of our deepest desires, and will always involve some response to the needs of the world.”
Benner, David G. The Gift of Being Yourself. Expanded ed. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Books, 2015, pp. 87-88.
“It is true, of course, that many of these pilgrimages brought Irish monks into inhabited places where the natives were willing and ready to receive the Christian message. The monks then became missionaries. The main reason for their journeys was not the missionary apostolate but the desire of voluntary exile.”
Merton, Thomas. “From Pilgrimage to Crusade.” (1964) in Selected Essays. Edited with an introduction by Patrick F. O’Connell. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2013, p. 189.
“To love, one must be free, and while the apostolic life implies one mode of freedom in the world, the monastic life has its own freedom which is that of the wilderness. The two are not opposed or mutually exclusive. They are complementary, and, on the highest level, they turn out to be one and the same: union with God in the mystery of total love, in the oneness of His Spirit.”
Merton, Thomas. “The Monastic Renewal: Problems and Prospects.” (1966) in Selected Essays. Edited with an introduction by Patrick F. O’Connell. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2013, p. 399.
"Here, then are our principles: We are baptized into the whole Christ. Baptism implies a responsibility to develop one’s supernatural life, to nourish it by love of God, to reproduce and spread it by love for other men. All this is ordered to the final perfection of a plan that extends far beyond our own individual salvation: a plan for God’s glory which lies at the very heart of the universe. This mystery we must believe and seek to understand if we would make anything of conversion and vocation.
“I might add that every baptism implies a distinct individual vocation, a peculiar function in the building up of the Mystical Body.”
Merton, Thomas. “The White Pebble.” (1950) in Selected Essays. Edited with an introduction by Patrick F. O’Connell. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2013, p. 7.
“Body and soul contain thousands of possibilities out of which you can build many identities. But in only one of these will you find your true self that has been hidden in Christ from all eternity. Only in one will you discover your unique vocation and deepest fulfillment. … We all live searching for that one possible way of being that carries with it the gift of authenticity. We are most conscious of this search for identity during adolescence, when it takes front stage.”
Benner, David G. The Gift of Being Yourself. Expanded ed. Downers Grove, Ill: IVP Books, 2015, p. 16.
Comment: Benner unites the true self with one’s vocation. He also says here that there is only one single possible identity where a person can find his or her unique vocation. Out of the “thousands of possibilities” you’re born with.
This sounds narrow and exclusionary to me. Unless the true self is simply the saved self and the true vocation is simply the vocation of being in love with God. Then the true self and vocation can blossom and be freely expressed in myriads of ways, different from anyone else and even different from myself in the past or future. They are at the same time quite specific to the individual and not at all specific.
“But after all, it is a mistake to be as unsuspecting in legal matters as I am; it brings home to one what a different atmosphere the lawyer must live in from the theologian; but it is instructive too, and everything has its proper place.” Bonhoeffer writing to his parents, Whit Sunday 14 June 1943
Bonhoeffer, Dietrich. Letters and Papers from Prison. The Enlarged edition. Edited by Eberhard Bethge. “A Touchstone Book.” New York: Simon & Schuster, 1997, p. 54.
Comment: Bonhoeffer was writing from prison near the end of his life. Just what good a lawyer could have done him in the face of Hitler’s personal opposition? But, yes, ‘all things in their place.’
“Why are people so intent on refusing others the right to see a special value in a life apart from the world, a life dedicated to God in prayer ‘on the mountain alone’ when the New Testament itself repeatedly shows Christ retiring to solitary prayer which he himself loved? Certainly one can find God ‘in the world’ and in an active life but this is not the only way, any more than the monastic life is the only way. There are varieties of graces and vocations in the Church and these varieties must always be respected.”
Merton, Thomas. “The Monastic Renewal: Problems and Prospects.” (1966) in Selected Essays. Edited with an introduction by Patrick F. O’Connell. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2013, pages 397-398.
Comment: in this new year, may you know freedom to walk the path you’ve been called to travel
“The temptations have multiplied; discernment and renunciation have become more necessary than ever. We [Carthusians] have chosen to dedicate our life to the search for God in silence and solitude. Both things must be defended by clear choices, otherwise soon not much of either will be left. Our vocation is very uncommon, but does not every person need a bit of silence and solitude if he wants to be able to stay in contact with his heart? We have a cloister and a Rule that protect us. Someone who lives in the world must find his own cloister and his own rule; this is not something obvious!”
Dom Dysmas de Lassus, the Father General of the Carthusian Order at Grande Chartreuse, quoted in: Sarah, Robert Cardinal with Nicolas Diat. The Power of Silence Against the Dictatorship of Noise. Translated by Michael J. Miller. San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2017, p. 229.
Pathology: the Study of a Path 