Merton and Seven Storey Mtn.
Posted by Mark Shaw on July 5, 2008
Do you have problems in your life? Feel like you are the most sinful person who ever lived? Can’t figure out if there is hope on the horizon or whether you are doomed to turmoil and happiness?
One great inspirational book of Thomas Merton’s is his autobiography, The Seven Storey Mountain. Actually, it is just his life pre-1950, but it includes the struggles he experienced before becoming a monk and famous spiritual writer with over sixty books to his credit. And even though the book was partially censored by Catholic officials, it nevertheless focuses on Merton’s struggles to find out who he really was and how he ended up deciding that the monastic life was for him.
One quote from SSM is certainly something to consider when we are struggling: “In so far as men [women] are prepared to prefer their own will to God’s will, they can be said to hate God: for of course they cannot hate Him in Himself. But they hate Him in the Commandments which they violate.” Here Merton is talking about the human condition, how we are leading our lives and whether we are doing so in a Christlike manner or in a “me” or “I” manner. When we do the latter, we are just kidding ourselves for being self-centered will never provide the joy and happiness we seek. Only when we surrender our lives over to God and follow His path may we enjoy a life worth living. How are you leading your life, for God, or for yourself?
