October is a fine and dangerous season in America. a wonderful time to begin anything at all. You go to college, and every course in the catalogue looks wonderful.
Interpretation
October symbolizes a transformative season that invites new beginnings and opportunities.
In this quote, Thomas Merton reflects on October as a season that embodies both beauty and risk, representing a time for new beginnings and growth. He highlights the excitement of starting new ventures, particularly in the context of education, as the enticing possibilities of college courses encourage enthusiasm and hope for the future. However, this time can also feel dangerous due to the weight of choices and the potential challenges that come with embracing change.
In practice
Using this quote in a speech about the importance of embracing change during the academic year.
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.
It will come with a rush and a roar and a shudder. It will come howling and laughing and shrieking and moaning. It will come so fast you canβt help yourself you will stretch out your arms to embrace it. You will feel it before it comes and you will tense yourself for acceptance and the earth which is your eternal bed will tremble at the moment of your union.
Tomorrow the revolution will 'rise up again, clashing its weapons,' and to your horror it will proclaim with trumpets blazing: I was, I am, I shall be!
If you want to change the world, you have to change the metaphor.
No real social change has ever been brought about without a revolution... revolution is but thought carried into action.
If citizens do not believe they can change their leaders through the ballot box, they will find other ways, even at the risk of destabilizing their countries.
How many black people are there in the higher echelons of any industry? We can talk about journalism, we can talk about politics. So why should football be any different?
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