Background Image
Creation was given to people as a clean window through which the light of god could shine into people's souls. sun and moon, night and day, rain, sea, the crops, the flowering tree, all these things were transparent. they spoke to people not of themselves but only of him who made them. nature was symbolic. but the progressive degradation of humans led them further and further from this truth. nature became opaque.
-Thomas Merton
Please Wait....
Translating....

Creation Was Given To People As A

Thomas Merton
Creation was given to people as a clean window through which the light of god could shine into people's souls. sun and moon, night and day, rain, sea, the crops, the flowering tree, all these things were transparent. they spoke to people not of themselves but only of him who made them. nature was symbolic. but the progressive degradation of humans led them further and further from this truth. nature became opaque.
Views: 4
Cite this Page
Prevent plagiarism by providing proper attribution.
APA FORMAT
Embed this Quote
Copy this HTML code to embed the quote on your website or blog.
HTML CODE
Topic
Nature Rain Moon

More From Thomas Merton

And what does the rain say at night in a small town, what does the rain have to say? who walks beneath dripping melancholy branches listening to the rain? who is there in the rain’s million-needled blurring splash, listening to the grave music of the rain at night, september rain, september rain, so dark and soft? who is there listening to steady level roaring rain all around, brooding and listening and waiting, in the rain-washed, rain-twinkled dark of night?
Rain Dark Night
It is good that the window should be transparent, because the street or garden beyond it is opaque. how if you saw through the garden too? it is no use trying to 'see through' [everything]. if you see through everything, then everything is transparent. but a wholly transparent world is an invisible world. to 'see through' all things is the same as not to see.
Garden Trying Use
As to the christian system of faith, it appears to me as a species of atheism — a sort of religious denial of god. it professes to believe in a man rather than in god. it is a compound made up chiefly of manism with but little deism, and is as near to atheism as twilight is to darkness. it introduces between man and his maker an opaque body, which it calls a redeemer, as the moon introduces her opaque self between the earth and the sun, and it produces by this means a religious, or an irreligious, eclipse of light. it has put the whole orbit of reason into shade.
Christian Religious Believe
The value of the things is not in themselves autonomously, but that god made them, and thus they deserve to be treated with high respect. the tree in the field is to be treated with respect. it is not to be romanticized as the old lady romanticizes her cat (that is, she reads human reactions into it). this is wrong because it is not true. when you drive the axe into the tree when you need firewood, you are not cutting down a person; you are cutting down a tree. but while we should not romanticize the tree, we must realize god made it and it deserves respect because he made is as a tree.
Cat Cutting Tree
There was just one moon. that familiar, yellow, solitary moon. the same moon that silently floated over fields of pampas grass, the moon that rose--a gleaming, round saucer--over the calm surface of lakes, that tranquilly beamed down on the rooftops of fast-asleep houses. the same moon that brought the high tide to shore, that softly shone on the fur of animals and enveloped and protected travelers at night. the moon that, as a crescent, shaved slivers from the soul--or, as a new moon, silently bathed the earth in its own loneliness. that moon.
Loneliness Animal Moon
Let the rain kiss you. let the rain beat upon your head with silver liquid drops. let the rain sing you a lullaby. the rain makes still pools on the sidewalk. the rain makes running pools in the gutter. the rain plays a little sellp-song on our roof at night- and i love the rain.
Running Song Spring
Similar Quotes
I wanted the next family to hurt, because you made my family hurt. them emotions were still running in me... whether i'm a rap star or not, if i still feel like that, then i'm part of the problem rather than the solution.
Running Hurt Stars
Nothing changes and very little happens in paris. this is a great place to work without distraction - and then i run away to new york, where i have a life!
Running New York Paris
Moderation is the silken string running through the pearl chain of all virtues.
Life Running Ties
But i smiled, and smiling was easy, no matter how strange and disorienting the street seemed to be. i was a fugitive. i was a wanted man, a hunted man, with a price on my head. and i was still one step ahead of them. i was free. every day, when you're on the run, is the whole of your life. every free minute is a short story with a happy ending.
Running Men Stories

Trending Author

Hoda Kotb
Hoda Kotb
Vin Scully
Vin Scully
William Moulton Marston
William Moulton Marston
Artur Davis
Artur Davis
Jamie Dimon
Jamie Dimon
Cheryl James
Cheryl James
Category
Information
Inspirational
Philosophy
Personal Growth
Happiness & Joy
Life Lessons
Success & Business
Motivation