Taming the heart. That's a tough one. Even hungering and thirsting for righteousness can be frustrating, especially those times when you look up and realize that you are still hungry and thirsty. Maybe it's because we crave so many things.
Thomas Merton says the role of the priest is to "spiritualize the world," to take everything we see and reframe it in such a way that our everyday lives lead us back to the presence of the Lord. Since my tradition is a "priesthood of all believers" it gives us a pretty clear sense of what our mission must be/become. We are to spend our day today shedding light in the darkness. It does not have to be flashy. I think it is better when it is simple. But whatever the case, it has to be light. The right kind of light. God's light. Merton writes,
"Our only true greatness is in the humility of living faith. The simpler and purer our faith is, the closer it brings us to God, Who is infinitely great. That is why everyone who humbles himself shall be exalted, and everyone who exalts himself, in the appetite for great lights and extraordinary experiences and feelings and mystical consolation, shall be humbled. Because the richer he desires to be in these things, the poorer he will be in the sight of God, in Whose eyes greatness is nothing."
One time Merton called himself a "submerged dragon." He longed for God, but his heart was all over the place. But the rhythms of the seasons helped put him back in his place. It's what he called, "The peace of the Easter Alleluias."
