"Therefore, if I don't pretend, like other people, to understand the war, I do know this much: that the knowledge of what is going on only makes it seem desperately important to be voluntarily poor, to get rid of all possessions this instant. I am scared, sometimes, to own anything, even a name, let alone coin, or share in the oil, the munitions, the airplane factories. I am scared to take a proprietary interest in anything, for fear that my love of what I own may be killing somebody somewhere."--Thomas Merton, from a diary entry during WWII reflecting upon the connections between possessions and complicity in violence worldwide
Exploring contemplative awareness in daily life, drawing from and with much discussion of the writings of Thomas Merton, aka "Father Louie".
Thursday, September 18, 2014
My Love Of What I Own May Be Killing Somebody Somewhere
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Amounting to Nothing, Brother Paul
Brother Paul Quenon, Photo by Rhonda J. Miller . Sorry monk that I am, I never amounted to nothing. Somebody must have laid a curse on me...