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Words stand between silence and silence: between the silence of things and the silence of our own being. between the silence of the world and the silence of god. when we have really met and known the world in silence, words do not separate us from the world nor from other men, nor from god, nor from ourselves because we no longer trust entirely in language to contain reality.
-Thomas Merton
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Words Stand Between Silence And Silence: Between

Thomas Merton
Words stand between silence and silence: between the silence of things and the silence of our own being. between the silence of the world and the silence of god. when we have really met and known the world in silence, words do not separate us from the world nor from other men, nor from god, nor from ourselves because we no longer trust entirely in language to contain reality.
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Reality Men Silence

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Only let it be trust in god, not in man, not in circumstances, not in any of your own exertions, but real trust in god, and you will be helped in your various necessities... not in circumstances, not in natural prospects, not in former donors, but solely in god. this is just that which brings the blessing. if we say we trust in him, but in reality do not, then god, taking us at our word, lets us see that we do not really confide in him; and hence failure arises. on the other hand, if our trust in the lord is real, help will surely come.
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The illusion that mechanical progress means human improvement ... alienates us from our own being and our own reality. it is precisely because we are convinced that our life, as such, is better if we have a better car, a better tv set, better toothpaste, etc., that we condemn and destroy our own reality and the reality of our natural resources. technology was made for man, not man for technology. in losing touch with being and thus with god, we have fallen into a senseless idolatry of production and consumption for their own sakes.
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Being a slow reader would normally be a deficiency; i found a way to make it an asset. i began to sound words and see all those qualities - in a way it made words more precious to me. since so much of what happens in the world between human beings has to do with the inconsideration of language, with the imprecision of language, with language leaving our mouths unmediated, one thing which was sensuous and visceral led to, in the use of language, a moral gesture. it was about trying to use language to both exemplify and articulate what good is.
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