Does it ever seem like we're living in the book of Judges? Every man does what is right in his own eyes, and the cycle of rebellion - chastening - repentance - deliverance - rebellion; goes on and on. The only motive for repentance seems to be alleviation of the symptoms, i.e. pain and suffering, not radical change at the heart level. How to get there? Try this from Fr. Thomas Merton:
The inward movement of compunction (Latin: compunctio, a pricking; a sharp feeling of uneasiness brought on by a sense of guilt, twinge of conscience, remorse)is not so much a matter of hiding ourselves within ourselves, as a liberation of ourselves, which takes place in the depths of our being, and lets us out of ourselves from the inside. This liberation from concentration on our self is the beginning of a conversion, a metanoia, a real inner transformation. The true interior life is not our own life within the depths of our own being. It is the coming of God into our being, from which we have previously gone out, in order to make room for him."
Come quickly, Lord Jesus! Is there room in my heart for Thee?
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