“Sal a la parte más profunda y echen sus redes para pescar.”
“Put out into deep water, and lower your nets for a catch.” — Luke 5:4
Thomas Merton (1915-1968) was a mystic, poet, activist and monk whose interest in Christian Mysticism started with his desire to recapture the spirituality of the early Desert Fathers, from which came his own Cistercian-Benedictine tradition. Benedict of Nursia (410-543 CE) himself drew deeply from Greek and Egyptian traditions, through the writings of Basil and John Cassian as he worked on what we now call “The Benedictine Rule”.
What follows is a prayer that Merton wrote that I keep in front of me in my study. May I suggest that we read it in the style of Lectio Divina (three times and very slowly), savoring the text while listening for what Spirit invites us to be and do today.
“My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going.
I do not see the road ahead of me.
I cannot know for certain 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 I have that desire
in all that 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
will I trust you always
though I may seem
to be lost
and 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.”
