Lectio Divina: Shining Like The Sun (Thomas Merton’s Vision)

On March 18, 1958, on the corner of Fourth and Walnut in Louisville, Kentucky, Trappist Monk, Thomas Merton, had a vision. That vision was a profound realization of love for all people that changed his outlook on the world, his ministry and vocation. In this Lectio, we will contemplate Merton’s recollection of that vision as recorded in his book, “Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander” and reflect on the way his vision of our Oneness in God might also change the way we see our world and each other.

Transcript

Hello,

My friends.

This is Mark Gladman,

Also known as Brother Frederick James,

Your friendly neighborhood monk-in-docs,

Welcoming you to another Lectio Divina contemplation audio.

And today,

Our focus for our Lectio is going to be on an excerpt from Thomas Merton's book Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander.

And it's Thomas Merton's famous vision that he had on the corner of 4th and Walnut in downtown Louisville,

Kentucky.

On March 18,

1958,

Merton was downtown when he had an experience that literally changed his life and in writing about it has influenced millions of people all over the world.

He had a vision,

An experience in which as he was going about his day,

He saw all the people in front of him suddenly take on new form and new shape that caused him to have to stop and contemplate what that meant.

As he had this vision,

He suddenly realized the beautiful connectivity of all things in God and what that meant for how he lived his life,

Not just as a human being or as a Christian,

But also as a monk.

For he talks about how that,

Yes,

We might be individuals and we might see ourselves as separate from others,

But the true deep reality is that we are all interconnected and that we are all one.

So while I might go on about being who I am,

Mark,

And living my life,

Doing my thing and extending myself into places where I am meant to be,

Deep at its core,

Even when I do this,

I'm interconnected with you,

With others,

That somehow what we're doing here brings all of us together in this beautiful oneness in God.

He talked about light shining out of people and all these bright lights shining out of people coming together in the face and in the eye of God.

It's a powerful,

Powerful,

Powerful vision that when we reflect on it has the potential of reshaping and reframing our world in ways that will allow us to live powerful,

Peaceful,

Graceful lives of love and hope in which the kingdom of God is truly seen by all.

And so I invite you to pause with me for a moment,

To breathe in and out,

To be still and to allow the words of Thomas Merton to be contemplated deeply in your soul.

And so God,

We ask that our ears would be open to hear the word that you might be speaking to us through the words of Thomas Merton today,

That our minds would be open to think deeply about these words and how they might change and transform us to live more truly and more fully what it means to be both human and to be connected with you and with all.

We ask that you would open our hearts to receive the seed of these words and that from them beautiful fruit can come that will allow the kingdom of God to be seen and experienced by us and all to whom we share life with.

And so with that,

We begin.

In Louisville,

At the corner of Fourth and Walnut,

In the centre of the shopping district,

I was suddenly overwhelmed with the realisation that I loved all those people,

That they were mine and I theirs,

That we would not be alien to one another,

Even though we were total strangers.

It was like waking from a dream of separateness,

Of spurious self-isolation in a special world,

A world of renunciation and supposed holiness.

The whole illusion of a separate,

Holy existence is a dream.

This sense of liberation from an illusory difference was such a relief and such a joy to me that I almost laughed out loud.

I have the immense joy of being human,

A member of a race in which God became incarnate.

As if the sorrows and stupidities of the human condition could overwhelm me now that I realise that we all are.

And if only everybody could realise this,

But it cannot be explained.

There is no way of telling people that they are all walking around shining like the sun.

Then it was as if I suddenly saw the secret beauty of their hearts,

The depth of their hearts where neither sin nor desire nor self-knowledge can reach,

The core of their reality,

The person that each one is in God's eyes.

If only they could all see themselves as they really are,

If only we could see each other that way all the time,

There would be no more war,

No more hatred,

No more cruelty,

No more greed.

At the centre of our being is a point of nothingness which is untouched by sin and by illusion,

A point of pure truth,

A point or spark which belongs entirely to God,

Which is never at our disposal,

From which God disposes of our lives,

Which is inaccessible to the fantasies of our own mind or the brutalities of our own will.

This little point of nothingness and of absolute poverty is the pure glory of God in us.

It is like a pure diamond blazing with the invisible light of heaven.

It is in everybody and if we could see it,

We could see these billions of points of light coming together in the face and blaze of a sun that would make all the darkness and cruelty of life vanish completely.

In Louisville,

At the corner of Forth and Walnut,

In the centre of the shopping district,

I was suddenly overwhelmed with the realisation that I loved all those people,

That they were mine and I theirs,

That we would not be alien to one another even though we were total strangers.

It was like waking from a dream of separateness,

Of spurious self-isolation in a special world,

The world of renunciation and supposed holiness.

The whole illusion of a separate holy existence is a dream.

This sense of liberation from an illusory difference was such a relief and such a joy to me that I almost laughed out loud.

I have the immense joy of being human,

A member of a race in which God became incarnate.

As if the sorrows and stupidities of the human condition could overwhelm me now that I realise that we all are.

If only everybody could realise this,

But it cannot be explained.

There is no way of telling people that they are all walking around shining like the sun.

Then it was as if I suddenly saw the secret beauty of their hearts,

The depth of their hearts where neither sin nor desire nor self-knowledge can reach.

The core of their reality,

The person that each one is in God's eyes.

If only they could all see themselves as they really are.

If only we could see each other that way all the time,

There would be no more war,

No more hatred,

No more cruelty,

No more greed.

At the centre of our being is a point of nothingness which is untouched by sin and by illusion.

A point of pure truth,

A point or spark which belongs entirely to God,

Which is never at our disposal,

From which God disposes of our lives,

Which is inaccessible to the fantasies of our own mind or the brutalities of our own will.

This little point of nothingness and of absolute poverty is the pure glory of God in us.

It is like a pure diamond blazing with the invisible light of heaven.

It is in everybody.

And if we could see it,

We could see these billions of points of light coming together in the face and blaze of a sun that would make all the darkness and cruelty of life vanish completely.

In Louisville,

At the corner of Fourth and Walnut,

In the centre of the shopping district,

I was suddenly overwhelmed with the realisation that I loved all those people,

That they were mine and I theirs,

That we would not be alien to one another,

Even though we were total strangers.

It was like waking from a dream of separateness,

Of spurious self-isolation in a special world,

The world of renunciation and supposed holiness.

The whole illusion of a separate,

Holy existence is a dream.

This sense of liberation from an illusory difference was such a relief and such a joy to me that I almost laughed out loud.

I have the immense joy of being human,

A member of a race in which God became incarnate.

As if the sorrows and stupidities of the human condition could overwhelm me now that I realise that we all are.

And if only everybody could realise this,

But it cannot be explained.

There is no way of telling people that they are all walking around,

Shining like the sun.

Then it was as if I suddenly saw the secret beauty of their hearts,

The depth of their hearts where neither sin,

Nor desire,

Nor self-knowledge can reach.

The core of their reality,

The person that each one is in God's eyes.

If only they could all see themselves as they really are.

If only we could see each other that way all the time.

There would be no more war,

No more hatred,

No more cruelty,

No more greed.

At the centre of our being is a point of nothingness which is untouched by sin and by illusion.

A point of pure truth,

A point or spark which belongs entirely to God,

Which is never at our disposal,

From which God disposes of our lives,

Which is inaccessible to the fantasies of our own mind or the brutalities of our own will.

This little point of nothingness and of absolute poverty is the pure glory of God in us.

It is like a pure diamond blazing with the invisible light of heaven.

It is in everybody.

And if we could see it,

We could see these billions of points of light coming together in the face and blaze of a sun that would make all the darkness and cruelty of life vanish completely.

As we rise from this time in Lectio today,

May we take with us this sense of true oneness that we have in God and with each other,

With our earth and with all things.

May the words of Thomas Merton guide us in living in a way that truly helps us to be grace and peace and joy and love to all that we meet.

May the words of Jesus resonate in our souls when he prayed to God that he wished that we would all know we are one,

Just as he and God are one,

And that we would realise this oneness both with each other and with God.

May we in reading the words of Paul,

Who talked about the parts of the body doing their thing but knowing full well that they cannot function without one another to the point of even feeling each other's pain.

May those words be reconsidered by us again as an invitation into this beautiful oneness that we have in the Christ of God.

May these things not be ethereal and pie in the sky,

But as we live them out,

May they allow us to live in ways that are practical,

Bringing hope and peace to all that we meet.

And may that grace,

Peace,

Love,

Hope and joy go with us and stay with us every step of the way,

This day and all days.

Amen.

All grace and peace be with you,

My friend.

May you know that you are one with God and with all.

May you know that the light that Merton saw shines from you also.

And may you carry that into your day with great,

Great joy.

Until next time,

Bye for now.

Reviews

Beautiful teaching. Much to reflect on here and return to. Thank you as always and Bless you Mark.☀️🌻✨

Merton's vision is really a universalist vision, and one of the touchstones of interfaith acceptance and dialog. This really cheered me up after a bad day.

Good to hear you again🙏this reading reminds us that is all starts with love..which is God, and His greatest command. The Holy Spirit shines forth from each and every one of us. May it be so🛐

This is a beautiful time of reflection and meditation on a deeply moving and personally resonant passage from Thomas Merton. Thank you Mark for your time and effort you give to provide these meditations to us.

Beautifully read and moving content
Certainly one to come back to
Thanks Mark
♾️💜🤍

a meditation for today and every day, thank you for the profound depth and truth of Thomas Merton’s words 🙏🏼