[I had apparently held this posting under drafts over several weeks.... thinking initially of possibly using it toward reflection(s) upon the lectionary texts, especially in the passages through this past Pentecost Sunday for this Year C... It is particularly interesting for me to revisit it today in view of yesterday/last night's rained out fireworks at our town's celebration on the Fourth of July. Now, on the day after, I want to ask:
What would it take for us as citizens of this nation under God's sovereign grace to experience, if you will, "transformissional" renewal and true freedom (in Christ alone) as we would endeavor to honor one another and especially those who bear the sacrifice in our service while also celebrating and enjoying our liberty and interdependence among each other? If they whom the Son sets free are free indeed, what does it mean for us to be free to live truly, the glorifying life -- living in Christ?]
May 23 — For me to be a saint means to be myself. Therefore the
problem of sanctity and salvation is in fact the problem of finding out
who I am and of discovering my true self. Trees and animals have no
problem. God makes them what they are without consulting them, and they
are perfectly satisfied. With us it is different. God leaves us free to
be whatever we like. We can be ourselves or not, as we please. We are
at liberty to be real, or to be unreal. We may be true or false, the
choice is ours. We may wear now one mask and now another, and never, if
we so desire, appear with our own true face. But we cannot make these
choices with impunity. Causes have effects, and if we lie to ourselves
and to others, then we cannot expect to find truth and reality whenever
we happen to want them. If we have chosen the way of falsity we must
not be surprised that truth eludes us when we finally come to need it!
— Thomas Merton
http://pcusa.org/pastorselders/dailyquote#may23
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