Reflections on the thoughts of Merton

"No writings on the solitary, meditative dimensions of life can say anything that has not already been said better by the wind in the pine trees." I have longed to find words that would hit this point as clearly as these of Thomas Merton. In all my quandaries, writings, and prayers, I always realize that I am only striving to put the eternal truth into the words of the English language. By the grace of God I have been granted the ability to do so fairly well, and it is only for that reason that my words seem to carry so much weight and clarity. However it is the very fact that we have all realized these truths before, or at least understand them in our heart of hearts, that makes them seem to ring so profoundly. The truth cuts to the very core of who we are, and there our vulnerabilities and fears can to a degree subside and we can really speak to one another. Yet who among us has not gone into the wilderness and discovered the same pervading peace and truth in God's creation, that can be found in the words of our world's most profound thinker? Matthew Kelly speaks of the "classroom of silence" and the importance of silence and solitude in finding life's rhythm. Thoreau went to the woods to live deliberately; Frost compares our life journey to a stroll through the woods; so many wise men who preceded us have discovered this truth. In the next life I believe that we will all speak the same language...we will understand life and death simply by being and experiencing the realities of existence.

Please don't think that I use this as a reason to stop writing or thinking about spiritual or meditative matters; I only want to pass along the truth that we all possess the capacity to discover profound truths inside ourselves, and in the nature of the world that surrounds us. I think it is all the reason to keep searching, for we stand upon the shoulders of those who preceded us in all ventures. Thus the wise men of the past have built a foundation upon which we can build in our quest to learn the true nature of this world, as well as that of the one to come. I think the Lord has constructed a grand puzzle and it is our challenge to put it together, always knowing the truth that we can never fully complete the work, until He supplies the remaining pieces for us upon our advent to paradise!