Less
Than Perfect
“Every
moment and every event of every man's life on earth plants something
in his soul.”
Thomas
Merton
On
first reading, this seems like a terrifying idea. At least, when I
look back at my life, and think what may be planted in my own soul,
it's a bit unsettling. However, reading Thomas Merton's biography on
Wikipedia shows that he was no angel. In fact, in his early life, he
was an atheist, and apparently, a “rounder.” And yet, he spent most of his adult life as a Trappist monk at the Abby of Gethsemane in
Kentucky, a silent and cloistered monastery. There he wrote
prolifically, and became a touchstone in all religious circles for
the depth of his thoughts and his faith. Sometimes the careless seeds
planted in youth grow into flowering shade trees.
Knowing
that even Thomas Merton had a past is reassuring. None of us get
through life without a few indiscretions—sometimes many more than a few.
Irresponsibility can either become a way of life, or provide the
impetus for moving in a different direction. In fact, those reckless
and imprudent times can be formative in our spiritual lives. At the
furthest extent of our foolhardiness, we often realize that this is
not how we want to spend our precious time here on earth. As crazy as
it sounds, such seeds are essential to the soul's journey—they are
Hansel and Gretel's white pebbles showing the way home. It was
Merton who said, “Life is either all spiritual or not spiritual at
all...” That includes our days of being less than perfect.
In
the Spirit,
Jane
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