Wonderful Insights from Thomas Merton

Each week I receive an e-mail from the Thomas Merton Institute for Contemplative Living with a short "insight" from the late, great Catholic spiritual leader whose name the institute bears.

Merton was a Cistercian (or Trappist) monk at the Abbey of Gethsemani in Kentucky from 1941 until his untimely death in 1968.

Merton gained an international reputation among Catholics, Protestants and persons of all religions for his deep insights in at least three key spiritual areas: contemplative prayer; inter-religious dialogue; and peacemaking.

In this week's insight Merton talks about his one and only experience driving. He was lent a jeep at the monastery and in just a short period of time managed to bang it up pretty badly. He was never allowed to drive again.

He talks about his driving failure with self-deprecating humor.

It's an important lesson to learn, especially for those of us who feel broken. Our circumstances may seem dark and even overwhelming, but seeing humor in our failings can be a balm.

Here's a link to this weekly insight.

http://us.mc526.mail.yahoo.com/mc/showMessage?fid=Inbox&sort=date&order=down&startMid=0&.rand=258672949&da=0&midIndex=0&mid=1_14038475_ANEwvs4AAEGkSf8HcAymggmBpww&f=1&nextMid=1_14037185_AMwwvs4AAKxPSf8B9AnGdFFfvz0&m=1_14038475_ANEwvs4AAEGkSf8HcAymggmBpww,1_14037185_AMwwvs4AAKxPSf8B9AnGdFFfvz0,1_14036655_AM4wvs4AAVl%2FSf77lgrUDVN%2FRYE,1_14036204_ANIwvs4AAMROSf75MQdEsBjAZd4,1_14035611_AM4wvs4AATHWSf74aAi9XBG%2BS48,1_14034786_AM8wvs4AAOdiSf73%2FgiQumVc850,

If you want to sign up to receive the weekly insights please e-mail:

rtoth@mertoninstitute.org.

The story of a heroine who recognizes her brokenness

A book is being published today that seems destined to become a bestseller. It details the story of a woman named Tori Murden McClure who was the first woman to row solo across the Atlantic Ocean.

But that distinction isn't what drew my attention to her story. What got me interested was the fact that Tori was woman enough to recognize her own limitations. She had failed in her first attemp to row across the ocean, and when she neared the end of her successful second attemp she and her boat suffered the onslaught of a storm she feared would drown her...almost within sight of her destination. Here's what she said to the Louisville Courier-Journal reporter who interviewed her:

Before she reached land a storm struck her cabin, causing her to collapse.
She prayed, "I've helped the disabled. I've pulled homeless people out of
Dumpsters. I've comforted individuals in distress. I've put myself out there
time and again. How much more do you want from me? How much more can I
give?"...

Then came her revelation. 'When I looked up from my
prayer,' she writes, 'the storm seemed to shine blue with electrical energy. It
was then that I realized the sublime truth of what I had been missing. I'd
intended to slay the sea monster of my helplessness. But I am, after all, a
woman. We don't slay our dragons; we embrace them...

Helplessness was not something outside me, some malevolent force that I
had to defeat," she states. 'Helplessness was a part of me. I am a human being.
It is our brokenness, our helplessness, which makes us human. I thought I'd been
trying to earn God's forgiveness, but the forgiveness I needed was my own. I had
only to forgive myself.'

The quotes above were taken from an article about Tori that appeared in the Louisville Courier-Journal on Saturday, April 4, 2009. The article was written by Linda Elisabeth Beattie. Here's a link to the full story:

http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2009904040352