To Serve the God of Love one must be free, one must face the terrible responsibility of the decision to love in spite of all unworthiness whether in oneself or in one's neighbor.
Thomas MertonEven the darkest moments of the liturgy are filled with joy, and Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the lenten fast, is a day of happiness, a Christian feast.
Thomas MertonI see no contradiction between Buddhism and Christianity ... I intend to become as good a Buddhist as I can.
Thomas MertonA tree gives glory to God by being a tree. For in being what God means it to be it is obeying [God]. It โconsents,โ so to speak, to [God's] creative love. It is expressing an idea which is in God and which is not distinct from the essence of God, and therefore a tree imitates God by being a tree
Thomas Merton