November 2, 2008 – It is not complicated, writes Thomas Merton, to lead the spiritual life. But it is difficult. We are blind, and subject to a thousand illusions. We must expect to be making mistakes almost all the time. We must be content to fail repeatedly and to begin again.
   I am always taken aback at the depth of Merton, and the truth and wisdom. There is the temptation in my life to seek the ultimate truth, the one answer, the path to eternal peace and happiness. But the really smart people understand that this is never a straight line, never clear or easy to see, never the same thing over and again. It is a difficult and complex process full of change, and I do not always see the world clearly, and need to accept that. I have more than a thousand illusions, and they are cracked like twigs day after day, and still they keep coming, and still, I am blind, and make mistakes almost all the time. But I begin again. And again. And that, I think, is the point.