Quiet Calm vs. Desperation

22 February 2005

The world is full of people seeking power, prestige and position over others. Obvious in their words, their manners and their unwillingness to listen, these are the ones leading “lives of quiet desperation.” If only those with all the answers understood how little they really know!

MY LORD GOD, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it. Therefore will I trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.—Thomas Merton

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