In my quest to get a bit more serious about blogging, I've changed my blog avatar from the fictional Speed Racer to the actual Thomas Merton. I'm trading in my Mach-5 for the habbit and the solitude of a Trappist monk. Talk about transformation!
Now does Thomas Merton have anything to teach us about the emerging church? To be honest, I don't know, but his father was from New Zealand, so that must count for something...
One thing for sure, Merton does have a lot to teach us about prayer, work, and life in general through his numerous writings. He's not someone we can ignore, and I think that there are some lessons there about simplicity that can be most useful.
Perhaps the best five days of my life were spent on a spiritual retreat at the Abbey of Gethsemani where Thomas Merton ("Father Louis") worked and prayed. Most of that retreat was spent in silence, which was exactly what I needed.
I had an interesting revelation about Christianity and 12-step groups (like Alcoholic's Anonymous) while I was there, a connection that never occured to me before. Someday I'll need to write a little blog about what I learned and the impact it had on me.
There's just not enough time in the day...
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