You

RIC_4987-1, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.

You are made in the image of what you desire. 

Thomas Merton

Peace

Cross, Freelton, Ontario 2, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.


You find peace not by rearranging the circumstances of your life, 
but by realizing who you are at the deepest level.

Thomas Merton

Cry of my heart

RIC_1837-1, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.


     My Lord,
     You have heard the cry of my heart
     because it was
     You Who cried out within my heart.

        Thomas Merton, Dialogue with Silence

About God

Night 4 (2012, 11.21), a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.


Our idea of God tells us
more about ourselves than about God.

Thomas Merton

All in One

Light, AUC, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.

Great knowledge sees all in one.

Small knowledge breaks down into the many.

Thomas Merton, The Way of Chuang Tzu

Real Journey in Life

By the Light House 7, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.


Our real journey in life is interior;
it is a matter of growth, deepening,
and of an ever greater surrender
to the creative action of love
and grace in our hearts.

Thomas Merton, The Asian Journal

The Contemplative

RIC_0346-1, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.


The poet enters into oneself in order to create.
The contemplative enters into God in order to be created.

Thomas Merton, New Seeds of Contemplation

What We Seek

RIC_9396-1, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.

We have what we seek.

We don't have to rush after it.

It was there all the time,

and if we give it time,

it will make itself known to us.

Thomas Merton

Centre of Our Being

RIC_1464-1, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.

     May we all grow in grace and peace, and not neglect the

     silence that is printed in the center of our being. It will

     not fail us. 

       Thomas Merton

Question to ponder

RC1_4007, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.

What can we gain by sailing to the moon

if we are not able to cross the abyss that separates us from ourselves?

Thomas Merton, The wisdom of the Desert

.

True Self

RIC_7533-1, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.

The “spark” which is my true self is the flash of the Absolute recognizing in me.

Thomas Merton, Love and Living

Life

RIC_6378, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.

Life is this simple.

We are living in a world that is absolutely transparent and the divine is shining through it all the time.

Thomas Merton

Who we are

RIC_3587
Originally uploaded by rchoephoto

Our being is silent, but our existence is noisy.

Thomas Merton

Wisdom

RCC_3876
Originally uploaded by rchoephoto

There is in all visible things
an invisible fecundity,
a dimmed light,
a meek namelessness,
a hidden wholeness.
This mysterious Unity and Integrity
is Wisdom, the Mother of all,
Natura nautrans.

Thomas Merton, Hagia Sophia

Stillness

To allow oneself to be carried away by a multitude of conflicting concerns, to surrender to too many demands, to commit to too many projects, to want to help everyone in everything is itself to succumb to the violence of our times.

Thomas Merton

Saints

Saints are what they are not because of their sanctity but because the gift of sainthood makes it possible for them to admire everyone else.

Thomas Merton

Sanctuary

RCC_5990
Originally uploaded by rchoephoto

To find love I must enter into the sanctuary where it is hidden, which is the mystery of God.


Thomas Merton