Spiritual Life

The Spiritual Life is first of all a life.
It is not merely something to be known and studied, it is to be lived. Like all life, it grows sick and dies when it is uprooted from its proper element. Grace is engrafted on our nature and the whole man is sanctified by the presence and action of the Holy Spirit.

-Thomas Merton from Thoughts in Solitude

So, this is one of my new favorite books. It’s just like the title describes: thoughts in solitude. I’ve been reading this very slowly and really am loving it. It seems liek this book is putting many thoughts that I have, into words, which is really cool, and inspires me to really try to seek God in solitude to pray things out more and deepen my relationship with him.
I read the above quote today and underlined it. I think constantly about how I balance my spiritual life with the rest of my life. Then, I realize that there shouldn’t be any separation. My spiritual life is just that, life. There is a lot of truth to what Merton says that it can get sick and die when we do not feed it properly. It speaks so well to the weeks when I forget to pencil God into my life and try to trudge along with my life and think that everything can go on the way it always has: My spiritual life is dying. It needs to be watered, nurtured and lived. Though, the truth is it goes through many times of “good health” and bad health” yet God’s grace is always there to transplant us when we have been thoroughly uprooted.