Thomas Merton’s Thoughts in Silence

God, I have no idea where I am going.  I do not see the road ahead of me.  I cannot know where it will end.  Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so.

 But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you.  And I hope that I have that desire in all I am doing.  I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire.  And I know that if I do this, you will lead me by the right road, though I may know nothing about it.

 Therefore, I trust you always though I may seem to be lost in the shadow of death.  I will not fear,  for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.

For all that you have given,
For all that you have taken,
For all that remains.
I thank you, God.

The first 3 paragraphs are by Merton.  I know this because I search engined a few lines and came up Merton.  Someone else added the last 4 lines.  I don’t know if they come from something else that Merton wrote, but they fit the prayer for me.  I got a prayer card with this quote and the added lines when I’d been sober for a couple of years and attended a retreat sponsored by the Episcopal Diocese of West Texas for people in recovery.

I remember how I focused on the line “For all that you have taken” and thought bitterly how much God had taken from me.  It took a few years in recovery for me to appreciate what was taken, what is given, and what remains.

Happy Thanksgiving to all my blessings!  Because I make a daily gratitude list-and don’t have to list the same thing twice for a week-I know what they are.  And, more than that, I know who they are!

“To be grateful is to recognize the Love of God in everything He has given us – and He has given us everything. Every breath we draw is a gift of His love, every moment of existence is a grace, for it brings with it immense graces from Him.
Gratitude therefore takes nothing for granted, is never unresponsive, is constantly awakening to new wonder and to praise of the goodness of God. For the grateful person knows that God is good, not by hearsay but by experience. And that is what makes all the difference.” (Thomas Merton)