"The lakes hidden among the hills are saints, and the sea too is a saint who praises God without interruption in her majestic dance. The great, gashed, half-naked mountain is another of God's saints. . . For me to be a saint means to be myself. Therefore the problem of sanctity and salvation is in fact the problem of finding out who I am and of discovering my true self. Trees and animals have no problem. God makes them what they are without consulting them, and they are perfectly satisfied. With us it is different. God leaves us free to be whatever we like. We can be ourselves or not, as we please. We are at liberty to be real, or to be unreal. We may be true or false, the choice is ours." —Thomas Merton, New Seeds of Contemplation "We can be ourselves, or not." A tree can only be itself. As for me, I can try to hide - discard - and diminish my true self. I can desire myself to be smarter, more organized, and way more affluent ( in whatever kind of curre...
Life is tough, but hope is tougher.