Prayer - Merton

Len Hjalmarson at Next Reformation [which is blog well worth checking out] posts a prayer by Thomas Merton:

MY LORD GOD, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it. Therefore I will trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.
- Thomas Merton, “Thoughts in Solitude”
© Abbey of Gethsemani

I did not grow up in a tradition, nor am I in a tradition where we use the prayers of others - At least in a formal sense. I have, at times, used Merton, a Kempis, Brother Lawrence, Henri Nouwen, John of the Cross, Teresa of Avila, Julian of Norwich (to name some) as part of my devotional reflection. By listing these I am not necessarily endorsing what they wrote. But I do think that as evangelicals, we miss something by ignoring part of the "great cloud of witnesses" that we have.

There are some sites/blogs who upon seeing this list of names and my even thinking that there is the possibility of some value in these writings, who would write me off as a heretic. I feel very sad for them.

Merton's prayer above, for example, confesses both the unknowingness of the road and knowing and being known by God. People who say they know all the details of where and God is leading them, are self-decieved - we simply don't know what lies ahead. But as Merton, so eloquently says "...I will trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone."

It's always dangerous to build a theology or a critique around a few quotes from a person's writing. And whatever, whoever we read, we need to filter that through the word of God by the Spirit of God [even the current evangelical, missional or emerging/emergent "guru's" - I'll let you insert who belongs there]. It is especially dangerous to do so, based on blogs. I can't speak for all bloggers, but I put things up on my blog for a variety of reasons:

• personal reflection;
• interesting bits of trivia;
• things I'm interested in;
• refection on what's happening in the world/church;
• things that are worth chewing on;
• things that are imprtant to think about, even if we disagree with it... and not everything I post I am full agreement with; and,
  
• and just plain fun stuff.
  

That was a longer post than intended. I started off to simply say: Thanks Len for the quote. I needed that.