NSoC 10: A Body of Broken Bones

See Notes on this series...

Merton declares that the remains of "slag and dross" as God refines our gold in his fire keep us from being pure and keep us separated from one another in him. He defines this separation as Christ's dismemberment, graphically reminding us that Jesus was physically crucified once by Pilate, et. al., but he is "drawn and quartered" by every successive generation since. Even saints, he says, are not exempt from the pain of disunion.

There are two responses to this pain: love or hate.

Hate stems from the refusal to deal with sacrifice needed to reunite. Merton says that hate sprouts from our loneliness, our unworthiness, or our inadequacy. Some people aren't aware of their self-hatred and they turn it outward, projecting unworthiness on others, often with feelings that they are justified by God in doing so. He calls this "strong hate." Some people are aware of their self-hatred and they turn it inward, including themselves with others who they see as unworthy. He calls this "weak hate" that is really "weak love," because it at least contains some degree of compassion.

He says that the Christian response to hate is not the will to love, but belief that one is loved, by God, regardless of one's worth. Hatred seeks to destroy everyone deemed unworthy. Love embraces all, for all are unworthy.

He returns to an earlier theme of God's will by evoking the Golden Rule (what he calls the Natural Law). He states again that contemplation cannot exist without compassion for others and a desire for reunion with our brothers and sisters in Christ. He says there is no flight from the suffering of the world, only flight from the disunity of other men. He says that to leave society in search of solitude is to take society with you into solitude, there is no freedom outside of God. He closes by warning of the danger of seeking solitude simply to be alone.

Quaff:
A couple of years after New Seeds of Contemplation was published, eight clergymen from Birmingham placed a newspaper ad (PDF document) questioning some of the demonstrations staged by the African-American community in protest of segregation. This document prompted Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Letter from Birmingham Jail (PDF document). This letter should be required reading for professing Christians, for in it Dr. King challenges the white church's lack of response to the issues the African-American community faced. I couldn't help think of the letter while reading this chapter.

Merton is on to something, I believe, for resistance to union seems to be a root of a lot of hatred. I wonder what we could do as a nation with our immigration issues if we looked on illegal immigrants with compassion as fellow "unworthies" rather than projecting our unworthiness on them? They are a mission field that has come to us, but they are unlike us, so our desire is to eliminate them rather than facing the hardship that unity with them would entail. Folks, this is not a political issue. This is a moral issue.

Query:

• Do I project my unworthiness on others as strong hate, or lump them in with myself in weak love? How can I turn that into strong love?
• Merton says the response to hate is not the will to love but the belief that I am loved. Do I really believe I am loved? Do I treat others like I believe I am loved? Do I treat others like I believe they are loved?
• What is my motivation for solitude?
• What are my barriers to contemplation?
• Is God refining less slag and dross from me this year than he did last?