Chapter 5
Chapter 5 contains one of the most important lines in the entire book. It is,
“all sin starts from the assumption that my false self, the self that exists only in my egocentric desires, is the fundamental reality of life to which everything else in the universe is ordered.”
Merton continues,
“Thus I use up my life in the desire….to clothe this false self and construct its nothingness into something objectively real.”
Merton is naming something that we’re surely all painfully acquainted with, that is, our propensity to constantly grasp after the satisfaction of our sensory needs and desires. If things don’t go my way, if I don't get what I want, then my false self is offended and hurt. Over time consoling my false self becomes my life’s purpose however consciously or subconsciously. As he says, I can use my life up, the very gift of it, in this empty pursuit. The teaching of this chapter is both indictment and exceeding aid because it tells the truth about the trap and the way to spring free of the trap.
“A tree gives glory to God by being a tree.”
In addition, the particularity of the individual tree gives glory to God
“It is not enough for a human being to be simply what our nature intends”
For us the further journey of sanctity consist in the discovery of our True selves
We have free will
“We are at liberty to be real or unreal.”
“Not to accept and love and do God’s will is to refuse the fullness of my existence.”
“To say I was born in sin is to say I came into the world with a false self.”
“The false self is the person that I want to be but who cannot exist b/c God does not know anything about him/her. And to be unknown to God is altogether too much privacy.” p. 34
“All sin starts from the assumption that my false self is the fundamental reality of my life.”
The false self would use up my life
“The secret of my identity is hidden in the love and mercy of God.”
