Thomas Merton, one of my favorite spiritual figures, once
told a true story:
A young priest was sent to preach
one Sunday in a “white” Catholic parish in New Orleans. He based his sermon on the Gospel of
the Sunday, in which Christ spoke of the twofold commandment, love of God and
love of one’s brother, which is the essence of Christian morality.
The priest, in his sermon, took
occasion to point out that this commandment applied to the problem of racial
segregation, and that white people and black people ought certainly to love one
another to the extent of accepting one another in an integrated society.
He was halfway through the sermon,
and the gist of his remarks was becoming abundantly clear, when a man stood up
in the middle of the congregation and shouted angrily: “I didn’t come here to
listen to this kind of junk, I came to hear Mass.”
The priest stopped and waited. This exasperated the man even more, and
he demanded that the sermon be brought to an end at once, otherwise he would
leave.
The priest continued to wait in
silence, and another man in the congregation, amid the murmuring support of
many voices, got up and protested against this doctrine to which he saw fit to
refer to as “crap.”
As the priest still said nothing,
the two men left the church followed by about fifty other solid Christians in
the congregation. As he went out,
the first of them shouted over his shoulder at the priest: “If I miss Mass today
it’s your fault.”[1]
Merton, at the conclusion of this story, said plainly,
“Incidents like this have a meaning.”
Instead of completing
“the rest of the story,” instead of allowing Merton the space to tell us
“the answer,” I want to leave the rest to my readers. Whether you are Catholic or Protestant, this story has a
meaning. Whether you live in the
South in the 60’s or Europe in modern times, this story has a meaning. This story bears meaning for the churchgoer
and secularist alike. Your
context, your experience, your hopes and aspirations, your fears and anxieties
– all of these will shape and inform the meaning that you bring to story. Yet I believe this story has powerful and universal meaning for us.
The question that I want to ask you, the question that I
encourage you to comment on here is, “What does this story mean to you? Where does this meaning manifest in your world today?”
“I do not have clear
answers to current questions.
I do have questions, and, as a matter of fact,
I think a man is known better by his
questions than by his answers.”
I do have questions, and, as a matter of fact,
I think a man is known better by his
questions than by his answers.”
Thomas Merton
