If you see the world as a place of suffering or pain, sometimes the best you can do is to laugh at its absurdity. Ignoring the reality of tribulation could put you in danger of missing a true lesson. One of the Psalms says, The darkness is my closest friend, and although that sounds stark, it is liberating to recognize when all around you seems to feel like trouble. Sometimes that is when we are most ready for God’s work. As Thomas Merton, a well known monk has written,
We must be ready to cooperate not only with graces that console, but with graces that humiliate us. Not only with lights that exalt us, but with lights that blast our self-complacency.To be cynical is to laugh from scarred point of view. But at least you are still able to laugh!
2 comments:
Dear Desert Brother, I very much hope you receive this message. I am studying the sayings of the Desert Fathers and Mothers and am writing a book in response to them. I live in a desert, though a different one from where you are. I find myself wishing you profile said a bit more about you, and how you came to be where you are, doing what you're doing, writing what you're writing. Will there be future posts from you?
dear lambsoup--thank you for reading this blog and for asking. i would like to write more but now i have had some electronic restrictions on my local server and cannot easily post. keep watch!
blessings, db
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