Thomas Merton reflecting on the self-demolition of decadent structures, both spiritual and temporal, and in particular the Church – presumably the “Church” as he was experiencing it in the West, and in particular, the Catholic Church within which he was priest and monk:
“..Are we really so identified with a rotten and crumbling edifice that we are bound to collapse with it?
This is where I stop. I think that if the thing collapses, and it must, a great deal of what we have called “Christianity” will go with it, and if we’re around to rub the dust out of our eyes we will finally see that it wasn’t Christianity at all. Who will deliver us from this body of death?...
I have to go along with policies that are often so inert, so blind, so stupid that they utterly stifle the true life of the Church and make it impossible for the most clear-sighted and courageous of her members to do anything that will further the real manifestation of the truth and [love] of Christ in the world … behind all this spurious Pentecostal wind one can hear, if [one] listens a little carefully, the hideous merriment of demons…”
Correspondence between Merton and philosopher Leslie Dewart, in Witness to Freedom: Letters in Times of Crisis, selected and edited by William H. Shannon.
"I have to go along with..." he said. Makes my heart hurt, as it did his, it appears. At least I feel, with him, the fellowship of suffering, in some sense. Peace to you, mate. Hope all is well. Wish we could sit on the beach with a beer and talk it all over. :)
Posted by: + Alan | Friday, 03 February 2012 at 12:47 PM
Hi +Alan, lovely to hear from you. One day we'll do just that, and a few days in Gethsemane. Did you get my Christmas newsletter? If not, e-mail me with your current e-mail address.
Pax
Paul
Posted by: Paul Fromont | Friday, 03 February 2012 at 10:26 PM