Why "St. Cuthbert's Island"?

Saint Cuthbert was a Celtic monk who lived in the 7th century.
He received visitors at his monastery in Northumbria and was even appointed a bishop, but he yearned for the life of an ascetic. While living at the monastery on the island of Lindisfarne, he sought to spend time with the Lord whenever possible. Early on, he practiced solitude on a small island that was linked to Lindisfarne by a land bridge when the tide was low. This tiny island, known as Saint Cuthbert’s Island, was a training ground of sorts—a place to grow in faith and in love for God.

I chose to name my blog after this island for two reasons:
1) I hope that it will be a place where I can spend time alone with God, growing in my love for Him.
2) Perhaps, when the tide is low, others may find their way to this tiny island
and, by God’s grace, be blessed by what they find there.

Friday, November 9, 2007

All Saints' (9) Thomas Merton

(continuing an "All Saints" tribute by posting great quotes from various saints who have run the race and kept the faith)

"We become saints not by violently overcoming our own weakness, but by letting the Lord give us the strength and purity of his Spirit in exchange for our weakness and misery. Let us not then complicate our lives and frustrate ourselves by fixing too much attention on ourselves, thereby forgetting the power of God and grieving the Holy Ghost.
Our spiritual attitude, our way of seeking peace and perfection, depends entirely on our concept of God. If we are able to believe he is truly our loving Father, if we can really accept the truth of his infinite and compassionate concern for us, if we believe that he loves us not because we are worthy but because we need his love, then we can advance with confidence. We will not be discouraged by our inevitable weaknesses and failures. We can do anything he asks of us. But if we believe he is a stern, cold lawgiver who has no real interest in us, who is merely a ruler, a lord, a judge and not a father, we will have great difficulty in living the Christian life. We must therefore begin by believing God is our Father: otherwise we cannot face the difficulties of the Christian way of perfection. Without faith, the 'narrow way' is utterly impossible."

--from Life and Holiness
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2 comments:

T. Michael W. Halcomb said...

Clay,

Enjoying your series, very thought provoking at points. The statement that people used to go to Church to meet God but now go to hear a sermon about Him floored me. Anyways, I wrote a post about you on my blog (well, kind of about you) and got an interesting response. Check it out:

http://michaelhalcomb.blogspot.com/2007/11/clay-brackeens-word-from-lord.html

November 10, 2007 at 2:27 PM
Clay said...

Dear Michael,

Thanks for reading, for your friendship, and for mentioning my blog. (An entry with my name in the title..wow!)
I enjoyed the discussion that the comment raised, and I do pray (and expect)that God will speak to your congregation in a powerful way in the days ahead.

November 11, 2007 at 8:21 PM

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