Bob Nicholas.com

So my wife and I go out on a date for dinner, and we stop into Barnes & Noble while out.  I scan the bargain racks and find a book by Thomas Merton called “No Man Is An Island.”  I’ve been interested in learning more about Thomas Merton.  So I buy the book for $6.98 – 15% for clearance, we go to dinner, come home, and as I climb into bed I begin to read this new book.  I must say I had some minor excitement to learn more about him, but I was unprepared for how profound his writing is; how inspiring; how thought provoking.

So, rather than try to be like I usually am say something profound….stop laughing, I said try….I decided to post some excerpts from the pages I’ve read so far.  This book is soo full of amazing and inspiring writing that I could almost post the whole thing so far, but here are some of my fav parts.

All of the following are excerpts from “No Man Is An Island” by Thomas Merton:

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I cannot discover God in myself and myself in Him unless I have the courage to face myself exactly as I am, with all my limitations, and to accept others as they are, with all their limitations.

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But if we love ourselves in the wrong way, we become incapable of loving anybody else.  And indeed when we love ourselves wrongly we hate ourselves; if we hate ourselves we cannot help hating others.

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The only effective answer to the problem of salvation must therefore reach out to embrace both extremes of a contradiction at the same time.  Hence that answer must be supernatural. That is why all the answers that are not supernatural are imperfect, for they only embrace the contradictory terms, and they can always be denied by the other.

Take the antithesis between love of self and love of another.   As long as there is question of material things, the two loves are opposed.  The more goods I keep for my own enjoyment, the less there are for others. My pleasures and comforts are, in a certain sense, taken from someone else.

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The true answer, which is supernatural, tells us that we must love ourselves in order to be able to love others, that we must find ourselves by giving ourselves to hem.  The words of Christ are clear: “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.”

This is not merely a helpful suggestion, it is the fundamental law of human existence.

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Man is divided and against God by his own selfishness, which divides him against his brother.

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…first of all, desiring to live, accepting life as a very great gift and a great good, not because of what it gives us, but because of what it enables us to give others.

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My successes are not my own.  The way for them was prepared by others.  The fruit of my labors is not my own: for I am preparing the way for achievements of another.

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Therefore the meaning of my life is not to be looked for merely in the sum total of my own achievements.  …  It is seen, above all, in my integration in the mystery of Christ.

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“The Church is Catholic, universal,” he said, “so are all her actions, all that she does belongs to all… Who bends not his ear to any bell which upon any occasion rings? But who can remove it from that bell which is passing a piece of himself out of this world?” – quoting poet John Donne

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“No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main”  – quoted from poet John Donne.

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<!–[if !supportLists]–><!–[endif]–>end of book quotes.

This book is amazing.  I’m captivated by where he is taking me as the reader, and the believer.  His beautiful philosophical illustration of Christ’s words, “Love your neighbor as yourself” is amazing and humbling.  For us to live up to his ideal is tough.

Those who have been through Cursillo will see many themes of the 4^th day lifestyle woven into his writings.  I’m not sure if he ever made a Cursillo weekend.  Based on his life, I don’t think he would have, given the timing, etc.  But his ideals are right on thus far.

I will continue to share my journey of reading this book.  In the mean time, join me in reflecting by considering your own contribution to the Body of Christ.  Merton beautifully illustrates our connectivity as a church and people.  Our successes and failures are not our own, but they belong to the whole, to God.

Today in conversation with a friend of mine, Ryan, we discussed how our response difference circumstances affects the Body.  Consider that next time you have a choice between cooperating with Grace, or choosing to deny it.   I have denied it too many times in my life and pray and hope that I have the will and courage to cooperate with God’s Grace more each day.  I pray you have the same prayer and hope as we seek to build the Kingdom of God.

In His peace.