At the root of all war is fear: not so much the fear men have of one another as the fear they have of everything. It is not merely that they do not trust one another; they do not even trust themselves. If they are not sure when someone else may turn around and kill them, they are still less sure when they may turn around and kill themselves. They cannot trust anything, because they have ceased to believe in God.Kyrie Eleison; Christe Eleison...
It is not only our hatred of others that is dangerous but also and above all our hatred of ourselves: particularly that hatred of ourselves which is too deep and too powerful to be consciously faced. For it is this which makes us see our own evil in others and unable to see it in ourselves.
Thomas Merton. New Seeds of Contemplation (New York: New Directions Press, 1961) p. 112
Saturday, February 14, 2009
The need for mercy...
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4 comments:
Oh well, then, the small comfort I can take from this is that at least the hatred I am feeling in myself at the moment is because I am seeing the evil in myself.
Which I suppose is preferable to this sort of hatred. Merton just so managed to distil things down,didn't he?
This gives me much to ponder and much to pray with - as you so often do Mike.
A war on terror fought by means of "shock and awe" sounds like hair of the dog that bit you.
Thank you for the Merton quote. Self-hate is such a huge stumbling block. I never thought of it quite like this,as projection on others, limiting our ability to love them.
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