Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test? 2 Corinthians 13:5
“Let no one hope to find in contemplation an escape from conflict, from anguish or from doubt. On the contrary,
the deep, inexpressible certitude of the contemplative experience awakens a tragic anguish and opens many questions in the depths of the heart like wounds that cannot stop bleeding. For every gain in deep certitude there is a corresponding growth of superficial “doubt.” This doubt is by no means opposed to genuine faith, but it mercilessly examines and questions the spurious “faith” of everyday life, the human faith which is nothing but the passive acceptance of conventional opinion. This false “faith” which is what we often live by and which we even come to confuse with our “religion” is subjected to inexorable questioning.”
Thomas Merton in New Seeds of Contemplation (Abbey of Gethsemani, 1961) 12.
Today is a deep post. It’s swimming in the deep end of the pool, for sure.
The contemplative life is not an easy one. It weeds out spurious elements of our faith with merciless but necessary examination. It does not settle for the status quo of conventional opinion. It calls junk in our lives what it is, false.
I did not realize having the word examine would beckon me to place of renewal and revival, a place of truth and hard work.
I guess its the necessary condition for the work before me (and you if you are honest with yourself). Most readers will remain in the comfort zone, when Jesus wants them to focus on Him and walk on water.
Many promise to stand by Jesus to the death and promptly deny him three times in the next breath. They will think there is no hope for them and find that Jesus wants to build his church on them.
If everything I said just went over your head, hear this. Your contemplative and authentic Christian faith is your most generous contribution to the world. It makes you real in a world of not-real.
You pass the proverbial test Paul writes about because when everything is stripped and ripped away, Christ is there.
Yes, this is the kind of stuff I think about in the quiet and early hours of the solitude of my hotel room in a dark and desolate corner of the planet where the only thing that is real is the presence of Christ which fills me with power and love to go shine for Him.
Last full day in Bangladesh. Preaching again. The events have gone indescribably good thanks to the prayers of many and of course, the grace and supremacy of Jesus Christ to the principalities and powers that had grip on this land.