Climbing a seven storey mountain
The Trappist monk Thomas Merton compared spiritual growth to climbing a seven storey mountain.
It is 100 years since the birth of Thomas Merton
You may be afraid of heights... you may stumble and fall. But don't worry... Jesus will always help you get up.
God wants us to reach the higher levels
There may be times when you are discouraged, but pray and trust the Lord to help you.
A famous prayer that Thomas Merton himself wrote is:
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.
Tools to help us climb
We have
- the Eucharist
- the Rosary
- our prayers
- the Bible
- the Sacraments
- and the Devotion to the Sacred Heart
to help keep us from falling.
As an extra strength, we have the example of the saints for us to imitate.
When we help others who are struggling to reach God, our climb becomes much easier.
At the end of our climb, the God of all our longings will welcome us to His home.
How to find God NEXT >
Return from Seven Storey Mountain to Home Page
