In my continuing effort to read "the classics," I finally decided to jump in and read someone I had heard so much about...
Thomas Merton.
I decided to start with the book everyone has heard of: THE SEVEN STOREY MOUNTAIN.
I won't say that it was as good as C.S. Lewis' MERE CHRISTIANITY or SURPRISED BY JOY, but it definitely had its moments. I have pages of quotes that I wrote down that struck me as I was reading. If I had to pick ONE quote that spoke to me personally it would have to be:
"How deluded we sometimes are by the clear notions we get out of books. They make us think that we really understand things of which we have no practical knowledge at all."
ooh. That hurts.
I am an avid reader. I spend a LOT of time reading about the Lord -- spiritual "classics," conversion stories, Catholic blog sites, etc.
But how well do I *really* know Him?
Am I just gaining head knowledge, or am I actually growing in my relationship with Him?
It frightens me to think that somehow I have deluded myself all these years.
It's so easy to live vicariously through the authors I have read -- their struggles, the lessons they have learned, etc. -- and fool myself into believing that somehow, by reading of their personal journeys, that I am as far along as they are.
But then life hits and I see where I truly am.
It's the little things of the day... the choices I make, the words I say, etc... that show me where my heart really is.
Have I really gone so far, my Lord, and learned so little?
Have mercy on me.
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