Thomas Merton on Seeing Christ in everyone

“We have to resolutely put away our attachment to natural appearance and our habit of judging according to the outward face of things. I must learn that my fellow man, just as he is, whether he is my friend or my enemy, my brother or a stranger from the other side of the world, whether he be wise of foolish, no matter what my be his limitations, ‘is Christ.’ …

“Any prisoner, any starving man, any sick or dying man, any sinner, any man whatever, is to be regarded as Christ–this is the formal command of the Savior Himself. This doctrine is far too simple to satisfy many modern Christians, and undoubtedly many will remain very uneasy with it, tormented by the difficulty that perhaps after all, this particular neighbor is a bad man, and therefore cannot be Christ.

“The solution of this difficulty is to unify oneself with the Spirit of Christ, to start thinking and loving as a Christian, and to stop being a hairsplitting pharisee. Our faith is not supposed …to assess the state of our neighbor’s conscience. It is the needle by which we draw the thread of charity through our neighbor’s soul and our own soul and sew ourselves together in one Christ. Our faith is given us not to see whether or not our neighbor is Christ, but to recognize Christ in him and to help our love make both him and ourselves more fully Christ. …

“Corrupt forms of love wait for the neighbor to ‘become a worthy object of love’ before actually loving him. This is not the way of Christ. Since Christ Himself loved us when we were by no means worthy of love and still loves us with all our unworthiness, our job is to love others without stopping to inquire whether or not they are worthy. …

“What we are asked to do is to love; and this love itself will render both ourselves and our neighbor worthy if anything can. Indeed, that is one of the most significant things about the power of love. There is no way under the sun to make a man worthy of love except by loving him. As soon as he realizes himself loved–if he is not so weak that he can no longer bear to be loved–he will feel himself instantly becoming worthy of love. He will respond by drawing a mysterious spiritual value out of his own depths, a new identity called into being by the love that is addressed to him.”
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– Thomas Merton

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More From Thomas Merton

A Thomas Merton Reader provides a complete view of Merton, in all his aspects: contemplative, spiritual writer, poet, peacemaker, and social critic. In this closely knit volume are significant selections not only from his major works but from some lesser-known, yet equally valuable, writings as well. Presented here is a living Thomas Merton, expounding through prose and poetry on an abundance of important themes -- war, love, peace, Eastern thought and spirituality, monastic life, art, contemplation, and solitude. M. Scott Peck puts the writings included here into the context of Merton's life.

“Faith and Violence is a Merton reader for our time. . . . Its thrust is simple: that ‘theology today needs to focus carefully upon the crucial problem of violence.’ Carefully and crucial are the key words there--the ones that interiorly bind together the pieces collected in the volume. The pieces, in turn, attempt to give a wide, interior acquaintance with the violence that Christianity has made peace with in the West. . . . Merton’s ability to mine [his themes] is often startling--and taken as a whole his is a valuable sourcebook in an area (theology and violence) that inspires much alarm and dogmatism, but little open and perdurable thought.” --New Book Review

In this classic text, Thomas Merton offers valuable guidance for prayer. He brings together a wealth of meditative and mystical influences–from John of the Cross to Eastern desert monasticism–to create a spiritual path for today. Most important, he shows how the peace contacted through meditation should not be sought in order to evade the problems of contemporary life, but can instead be directed back out into the world to affect positive change. Contemplative Prayer is one of the most well-known works of spirituality of the last one hundred years, and it is a must-read for all seeking to live a life of purpose in today’s world.