The sixteenth-century mystic Ignatius of Loyola said of himself that at the time of his conversion he had no one to turn to for guidance, so the Lord himself taught him the way a schoolteacher teaches a little child. He once declared that even if all the scriptures were destroyed, he would hold on to what they revealed because of what the Lord had taught him personally.
Christian: I have, unfortunately, had a surfeit of people I could turn to for guidance. They badgered me with their persistent teachings till I could barely hear you through the din. It never occurred to me that I could get my knowledge firsthand from you, for they sometimes said to me, "We are all the teachers you will ever have; he who listens to us, listens to him."
But I am wrong to blame them or to deplore their presence in my early life. It is I who am to blame. For I lacked the firmness to silence them; the courage to find out for myself; the patience to wait for your appointed time; and the trust that someday, somewhere, you would break your silence and reveal yourself to me.
Anthony de Mello
Christian: I have, unfortunately, had a surfeit of people I could turn to for guidance. They badgered me with their persistent teachings till I could barely hear you through the din. It never occurred to me that I could get my knowledge firsthand from you, for they sometimes said to me, "We are all the teachers you will ever have; he who listens to us, listens to him."
But I am wrong to blame them or to deplore their presence in my early life. It is I who am to blame. For I lacked the firmness to silence them; the courage to find out for myself; the patience to wait for your appointed time; and the trust that someday, somewhere, you would break your silence and reveal yourself to me.
Anthony de Mello
0 comments:
Post a Comment