Love is our true destiny. We do not find the meaning of life by ourselves alone - we find it with another. We do not discover the secret of our lives merely by study and calculation in our own isolated meditations. The meaning of our life is a secret that has to be revealed to us in love, by the one we love. And if this love is unreal, the secret will not be found, the meaning will never reveal itself, the message will never be decoded. At best, we will receive a scrambled and partial message, one that will deceive and confuse us. We will never be fully real until we let ourselves fall in love - either with another human person or with God.
- Thomas MertonLove and Living, edited by Naomi Burton Stone and Br. Patrick Hart Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1985, page 27
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
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5 comments:
I like that.
I do to
and I truly hope you will find both kinds of love again and that they won't dissappoint you like they have in the past
God Bless
Great quote! That's some excellent stuff. The only thing that I would be tempted to add as a qualifier is that it be distinguished as Christian love, the love that is giving and self-sacrificing. I think that makes a huge difference.
hi J
Yes it is one of the best descriptions of what life is meant to be all about.
Personally I don't think a qualifier is needed
One of my favourite stories is Leo Tolstoy's
Where Love is, God is.
Christians don't have a monopoly on love and so I don't feel God has turned his back the world and its inhabitants.
When I see loving actions and attitudes in my neighbours, be they Christian, Moslem, Hindu, or Athesist, I Thank God for that love and celebrate in the fact that God is Love and therefore God is real after all.
Yes, good point...I spoke to soon I think. :) Common grace plays a big role when it comes to things like love, to be sure. Part of God's revelation of Himself in this world.
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