In humility is the greatest freedom. As long as you have to defend the imaginary self that you think is important, you lose your piece of heart. As soon as you compare that shadow with the shadows of other people, you lose all joy, because you have begun to trade in unrealities and there is no joy in things that do not exist.
Interpretation
Humility leads to true freedom and joy, while clinging to an inflated self-image brings suffering.
In this quote, Thomas Merton emphasizes the importance of humility as a pathway to genuine freedom and joy. He suggests that when we hold onto an exaggerated sense of self-worth and compare ourselves to others, we become trapped in a cycle of unrealistic expectations and suffering, losing our inner peace. True contentment comes from letting go of these illusions and embracing humility.
In practice
During a motivational speech on personal development, this quote can highlight the importance of humility.
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.
Be aware of your breathing as often as you are able, whenever you remember. Do that for one year, and it will be powerfully transformative. And it's free.
Obedience is the key that opens every door.
If you follow your heart, you're going to find that it is often extremely inconvenient.
Don't borrow someone else's plan. Develop your own philosophy and it will lead you to unique places.
Be content to be what you are, and prefer nothing to it, and do not fear or wish for your last day.
I would advise you against defensiveness on priciple. it precludes the best eventualities along with the worst. At the most basic level it expresses a lack of faith.
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