|
go here to buy my stock photography
Alan Creech
 Custom Search
st. thomas of india > john wesley admonition sites & things i like
abbey of gethsemani faith communities christ the king blogs i read
aaron klinefelter
|
July 05, 2007
> 7:50 PM
confucius say... Well, not really but I had to have a catchy title. I was re-listening to a Thomas Merton audio tape yesterday, one I bought not too long ago, and realized again, how rich the content was. I know, it's Merton, right, so what did I expect? There are actually times I don't totally hang with old Louis, believe it or not, but mostly, especially when he's talking spiritual language, mystical theology, formation of the human person, I'm right there with him. This was one of those times. I think I may, hopefully not too illegally, put up a sample of something he said in this talk that may help some of you who have a few problems with Tom that, to me, aren't warranted AT all. Should be interesting to see the reactions. So, he was talking about Confucian philosophy (don't get your panties in a wad please) as well as Greek tragedy myths, etc. Mostly on this part about the construction of the Confucian way and what it's purpose was/is, and how he wove this into the life of a Christian monk (I'll say ANY Christian person) as he or she would live with the goal of being transformed into the Image of Christ fully - this is good stuff. It always makes me think when I hear him talking to the young monks under his tutelage at the monastery, about Sufism or Confucius or maybe Zen Buddhism - it makes me think about God's Mercy. No, really. How he always ends up bringing it around to the Center - to God in Christ, the Center of all things, is just as it should be. But we are seeing him recognize, as we should, that God is BIG and that He has chosen to work, to teach and to draw people toward Himself, toward His Center, in all times and places and cultures, in ways we may not recognize as fully developed Truth or as fully legitimate religion. OK, I already know I've gotten myself into having to try and explain this a little more than what I thought, so I'll try. The questions he's sort of answering here is about how something "True" can be contained within a philosophy or religion that is not Christianity, not the fullness of Revelation in Christ Jesus. Some will simply say that it cannot and is not. Some will tell us that it is folly to say that we recognize such a thing as God working in these arenas. Tom probably says it better than I could (maybe :) ) in this audio sample. He's talking about, basically, God having used these things to draw people to Himself. He very clearly says that these philosophies and religions, in themselves, can NOT give the ultimate answers they call people to - that their only fulfillment is in Jesus, through the Holy Spirit. This is very smart, very good stuff. Take a listen to just this 6 minute sample. Then, of course, go buy the cassette (am I covered?). - Listen here (it's a bit large - 8.3mb - but I wanted to keep the quality - I love how you can hear the birds and building noises, bells, etc. at the monastery in these recordings) technorati tags > thomas merton, philosophy, inclusivism, spiritual formation Labels: merton, spiritual formation, theology 0 Comments:| permalink | e-mail me | 
|
daily prayer
ordinary time lectionary readings > today
my blog post labels
blogging archives
|
038
