Anniversary of an insight

“I have the immense joy of being man, a member of a race in which God Himself became incarnate. As if the sorrows and stupidities of the human condition could overwhelm me, now that I realize what we all are. And if only everybody could realize this! But it cannot be explained. There is no way of telling people that they are all walking around shining like the sun.”

–- Thomas Merton

Fr. James Martin notes an anniversary.

…today, March 18, the 50th anniversary of a great epiphany that changed the course of Thomas Merton’s life. After years of feeling “separate” from other men and women (as a result of his choosing to live a monastic life) he had a clarifying moment of grace on the corner of Fourth and Walnut Streets in Louisville, which would set the agenda for the rest of his life. From this inspiration would come much of Merton’s writings on war and peace, civil rights, religious freedom and, in general, spirituality for the modern world.

Last September I wrote about this same event:

I confess, I most often think of Merton’s revelation when I am surrounded by strangers and feeling hemmed in and annoyed. And it helps. It helps me – when I am feeling disinclined to brotherly love – to remember that Merton could see us all shining like the sun. It reminds me that I believe we do all shine in the sight of God – that we all belong to Him – and remembering it makes me less cranky and judgmental.
[…]
Merton was not the first to see the world shining, (St. Therese Couderc had a similar vision about all creation) and Bono was not the first to declare us each unique and expressly lovable in that uniqueness, but we don’t hear it enough. We need to hear it more. If we did, love would be easier and less mysterious.

Deacon Greg calls it a happy thought in Holy Week