Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the duty of all mankind. Ecclesiastes 12:13
“The monk is not defined by his task, his usefulness; in a certain sense, he is supposed to be useless, because his mission is not to do this or that job but to be a man of God.”
Thomas Merton in Celtic Daily Prayer (New York: Harper Collins, 2002) 628.
Why are we on this round ball called earth? Good question for a Friday morning. It’s not for all the fun we may want to pursue this weekend.
In Eccleasiastes, Solomon sums up this purpose as fearing God and keeping His commandments. I love how this intersects with the thought from Merton today.
In a way, we are all called to be monks, to be set apart unto God and for God.
We don’t need to try to make ourselves useful. God takes care of that. So, to be useless is to get ourselves out of the way and aim at honoring God and keeping His commandments.
If this sounds too lofty, just think about it this way.
Fearing God and keeping His ways transforms us into different people, or as Merton put it, into men and women of God.
Generosity flows from useless people made useful by God. There is no generosity apart from God, and yet He has chosen to dispense it through those that keep His ways.
He can do His best work through those the world deems useless.