Thomas Merton Quotes

My brethren, when God first began to love you, He gave you all that He ever meant to give you in the lump, and eternity of time is that in which He is retailing of it out.

Maharaj-ji, in my first darshan, my first meeting with him, showed me his powers. At that point I was impressed with the power. But subsequently, I realized that it was really his love that pulled me in. His love is unconditional love.

I'm telling you, God loves a lot of people.

If God is not sending earthquakes, destroying economies and inflicting pain upon human beings, what is God doing? God works through people, calling them to help their neighbors in need. God comforts His people, walking with them even 'through the valley of the shadow of death.'

I think Jesus is divine love manifest on Earth, as it comes through the community of Christians.

We must seek the loving-kindness of God in all the breadth and open-air of common life.

O Lord have mercy on me, to God I commend my soul.

Give me yourself, O my God, give yourself back to me. Lo, I love you, but if my love is too mean, let me love more passionately. I cannot gauge my love, nor know how far it fails, how much more love I need for my life to set its course straight into your arms, never swerving until hidden in the covert of your face.

At the heart of the Christian message is God Himself waiting for His redeemed children to push in to conscious awareness of His Presence.

Your worst day with God is still better than your best day without Him.

I have fallen in love with you, God. Take care of us all, one way or the other.

If our prayer is “Dear God, please use me to be of service,” then that is what we will be. And it is not for us to judge either the size or value of our gifts. Our job is to try to get out of the way, to defer to the spirit moving within us and become open channels for the flow of God’s love.

A Christian is the dwelling place of the living God. He created me, he chose me, He came to dwell in me, because he wanted me. Now that you have known how much God is in love with you it is but natural that you spend the rest of your life radiating that love.

When you love you should not say, “God is in my heart,” but rather, “I am in the heart of God.

You have a God who hears you, the power of love behind you, the Holy Spirit within you, and all of heaven ahead of you. If you have the Shepherd, you have grace for every sin, direction for every turn, a candle for every corner and an anchor for every storm. You have everything you need.

Jesus, Thou art all compassion, pure unbounded love Thou art; Visit us with Thy salvation, enter every trembling heart.

In the midst of our failed attempts at loving Jesus, His grace covers us.

Two things make a relationship providential: when we hear from God through someone and when we see God in someone.

God is an experience of supreme love.

When you know how much God is in love with you then you can only live your life radiating that love.

Love is the first step towards the divine, surrender is the last. And two steps is the whole journey.

When He tells us to love our enemies He gives, along with the command, the love itself.

An infinite God can give all of Himself to each of His children.

Jesus says. "Acknowledge and accept who I want to be for you: a Savior of boundless compassion, infinite patience, unbearable forgiveness, and love that keeps no score of wrongs. Quit projecting onto Me your own feelings about yourself. At this moment your life is a bruised reed and I will not crush it, a smoldering wick and I will not quench it. You are in a safe place." Brennan Manning. Abba's Child: The Cry of the Heart for Intimate Belonging