while reading notes from
thomas merton's conferences to
novices at the abbey of
gethsemani,especially on
pre-benedictine monasticism,
that there's mention of
'the juggler of Our Lady',
which it turns out is the
book we've been
reading with noah and jonah for
five in a row,
(tomie depaola's 'clown of God')
about just that,
editor patrick o'connell
explains Merton's understanding
'that the primary job of the monk is to be real, and to allow the inner truth of one's being to emerge through both trials and graces. The following week, he points out that it is often the despised or undervalued aspects of a person that are actually the most powerful signs of God's presence, and refers both to the medieval legend of the juggler of Our Lady and to the Cinderella story to illustrate the beauty and power of 'the true, simple, humble self.''
actually this particular
page in the introduction is
chock full of goodness,
like,also
regarding Merton's conferences,
'he is just as interested in how the Holy Spirit worked in the lives of the people he will be discussing as he is in their possible relevance to and influence on the Rule, and goes on to demonstrate this focus in his discussion of St. Paulinus of Nola, whom he praises as a 'real person-someone you can like and sympathize with' and concludes his discussion of Paulinus by noting that as human beings we learn from other human beings-not just by following a rule but by being inspired and instructed by the lives and words of other people.'
and,
'he uses the story of St. Anthony's struggles with demons to point out the necessity for perseverance in the monastic life, to remind his audience that Christ is present in consolations but even more present in desolations, and that too much clarity and certainty may be a sign of spiritual immaturity.'
(all excerpts from Thomas Merton's 'Pre-Benedictine Monasticism: Initiation into the Monastic Tradition 2')
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