Love Is Our True Destiny

Thomas Merton remains one of the most influential spiritual writers and thinkers of the 20th century.

In his younger years, Merton felt a deep emptiness that worldly success could not fill; the Cistercian Monastery he eventually entered provided a structured environment focused on prayer, silence, and contemplation.

It was in the Monastery that he was able to formulate and communicate complex spiritual ideas in accessible language that continues to resonate with an eclectic audience.

Merton explored themes such as solitude, silence, the nature of God, and the search for inner peace.

His most compelling insights, at least for me personally, relate to his exposition of love and its centrality to living a deeply connectional and meaningful life.

Merton's words speak for themselves; They do not require exegesis from me, therefore it is in that spirit that I offer some of his insights here. I hope you find them as enlightening and thought provoking as I do.

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“The beginning of love is the will to let those we love be perfectly themselves, the resolution not to twist them to fit our own image. If in loving them we do not love what they are, but only their potential likeness to ourselves, then we do not love them: we only love the reflection of ourselves we find in them”.

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“Love is our true destiny. We do not find the meaning of life by ourselves alone - we find it with another.”

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“Our job is to love others without stopping to inquire whether or not they are worthy. That is not our business and, in fact, it is nobody's business. What we are asked to do is to love, and this love itself will render both ourselves and our neighbours worthy.”

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“Love seeks one thing only: the good of the one loved. It leaves all the other secondary effects to take care of themselves. Love, therefore, is its own reward.”