Authentic

My reading pilgrimage has taken me across the pages of several writers who have profoundly shaped my understanding of what it means to be a serious pilgrim of the faith.


In my writing, I desire that my words have a ring of authenticity to them. I want to make sure that I never write words that overstate what I know and have experienced.


My writing and thoughts are no match for Thomas Merton who as a mystic was concerned that his teachings rang true to his experiences.


Like many of us, he found it easy to peddle cliches, traffic in religious jargon and recite pious words.


Paul Elie writing in The Life You Save May Be Your Own: An American Pilgrimage says, "He (Thomas Merton) worried that he was serving up "professional spirituality" instead of describing what the experience of God was like." p. 229


I am always cautious of religious people who thrive on knowing all the answers. A red light on the dashboard of my soul goes off when I meet a person who has all the answers, usually to questions no one is asking.


Merton often suggests that authentic Christ following pilgrims lived in uncertainty. He goes as far as to say they "thrive" on it.


For those of us raised in the throes of knowing all of the right answers, the shock comes when nobody asks the right questions. Mystery was often something to be shunned. It was often viewed as a sign of weakness if you couldn't explain everything.


One of my favorite phrases from Merton's writings is his treatment of the limits of mystery and the gap that exists between mystery and certainty. He suggests that theologians often "swim in the vague."


Before you panic, I am not walking through life in a fog, confused about the tenets of the faith. What I am suggesting is that there is a profound mystery observed "through a glass darkly." Knowing may begin in the shadow of doubt.


"Every believer is a prospective contemplative, called to taste God." - Merton.


Now that should leave a good taste in the mouth of any serious pilgrim.