Wednesday 30 June 2010

Temptation (Quote)


"The greatest human temptation is to settle for too little." Thomas Merton.

11 comments:

  1. But you are about no expectations Warren ?

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  2. Yes, that's right. But we are called to desire more.

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  3. But according to you we should be happy with what we already have!
    There needs to be a constant striving for perfection.

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  4. Without expectation. Idolatry and expectations are closely related.

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  5. I now under stand why people are leaving the church in droves.
    If striving to be the very best person that I can be is Idolatry then so be it!

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  6. Striving for perfection with expectations? The problem with expectations is that they tell God what to do. God is surprising. That's part of what the cross and resurrection of Jesus show us. So I'm not sure why you see that a lack of expectation of God necessarily means one cannot strive for perfection.

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  8. It just occurred to me that perhaps you are bringing this post on temptation together with the quote in a previous post (http://classic-theology-new.blogspot.com/2010/06/life-is-gift-quote.html)about receiving our life as a gift. The expectations post was about letting God be God. You didn't seem to approve of the quote about receiving life as it is as a gift. However, receiving our lives as a gift does not mean we can't work within that gift to bring it to fulfillment. But to rid ourselves of expectations of how we expect God should act is important I think.

    Also see today's post which links to a piece by Laurence Freeman on desire. Desire that has been purified through death and resurrection is relieved of its egoism, which is what our expectations of God are part of.

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  9. I do not expect God to do anything but to just Be!

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  10. A pretty minimal expectation I would have thought! In fact, so minimal that it is not anything like the way I used it in the post, and that people would ordinarily use it.

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  11. I expect far far more from myself than I do from God/Oneness or what ever.
    My understanding I suspect is totally different from yours.

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