Action is the stream, and contemplation is the spring.
Interpretation
Action and contemplation are interconnected; one flows from the other.
In this quote, Thomas Merton emphasizes the importance of both action and contemplation in life. Action is likened to a stream that continuously flows, representing the dynamic nature of doing, while contemplation, represented as a spring, signifies the source from which thoughtful action arises. This illustrates the idea that our actions should be informed by mindful reflection, and that contemplative practices provide the foundation for meaningful and purposeful action.
In practice
This quote can be used during a workshop on personal development to emphasize the need for both action and thought.
The devil is no fool. He can get people feeling about heaven the way they ought to feel about hell. He can make them fear the means of grace the way they do not fear sin. And he does so, not by light but by obscurity, not by realities but by shadows; not by clarity and substance, but by dreams and the creatures of psychosis. And men are so poor in intellect that a few cold chills down their spine will be enough to keep them from ever finding out the truth about anything.
Our vocation is not simply to be, but to work together with God in the creation of our own life, our own identity, our own destiny....To work out our identity in God.
Conscience is the light by which we interpret the will of God in our own lives.
You are made in the image of what you desire.
But if you want to identify me, ask me not where I live, or what I like to eat, or how I comb my hair, but ask me what I think I am living for.
I have the immense joy of being man, a member of a race in which God Himself became incarnate. As if the sorrows and stupidities of the human condition could overwhelm me, now that I realize what we all are. And if only everybody could realize this! But it cannot be explained. There is no way of telling people that they are all walking around shining like the sun.
Do not complain about growing old. It is a privilege denied to many.
As I grow older, I pay less attention to what men say. I just watch what they do.
Don't Criticize, Condemn, Or Complain.
No matter what anybody says, what matters most is what you think of yourself.
He who would be serene and pure needs but one thing, detachment.
The willow which bends to the tempest, often escapes better than the oak which resists it; and so in great calamities, it sometimes happens that light and frivolous spirits recover their elasticity and presence of mind sooner than those of a loftier character.
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