To allow oneself to be carried away by a multitude of conflicting concerns,

to surrender to too many demands,

to commit oneself to too many projects,

to want to help everyone in everything,

is to succumb to the violence of our times.

Thomas Merton

Trappist Monk

1915-1968

It is somewhat sobering to realize it has taken me almost a life time to understand this.

I think it’s because I always feared that not to be outraged by every injustice, not to try to help every needy person, not to experience empathy for each and every suffering was to live a superficial, selfish life.

But I now think that to live as if I alone am responsible for the world is a form of quite seriously inflated hubris.

 I am not god.  That does not mean my life is not important, that my contribution may not be essential.

But it’s not everything.

I can be at peace, I can experience joy and delight.  I can have fun and play and even waste time without living a useless, meaningless existence.