Artist: Pierre II VeyrierMany thanks for Fr. Clyde Glandon who included this quotation in his weekly lectio email:
It is perfectly true that we die with him in baptism and rise from the dead: but this is only the beginning of a series of deaths and resurrections. We are not “converted” only once in our life but many times, and this endless series of large and small “conversions,” inner revolutions, leads finally to our transformation in Christ.
--Thomas Merton from Life and Holiness
This makes me think of a statement in one of Walter Wink's books which said, if I remember the quote correctly, "You get the Jesus you need." The Merton & Wink quotes blend together beautifully for me. If our spiritual life is a series of conversions/changes, the Jesus we would need at any given time would also be ever changing. Which would also fit with the idea that my idea of Jesus may not be the same as your idea of Jesus because we are at different places in our spiritual conversion and therefore need a different Jesus. Neither one of us is right or wrong. Hmmm, must think about this some more.
ReplyDeleteCarolyn L.
Glad you've been reading Walter Wink, Carolyn!
ReplyDeleteWell, if Christ is the "All in All" (see Ephesians and Colossians) then your interpretation certainly makes sense.