1. Merton sees meditation as a set time and place to get to know God deeper and more intimately. During this set time the goal is to focus entirely on God and not get distracted by anything else, to focus on God's love and is-ness.
2. Obstacles Merton presented were avoiding God when he is talking to us, we do this out of either confusion or no confidence. Pride, which is when we get above our "level" and therefore trap ourselves in our pride. Merton suggests that in order to help with this problem a spiritual mentor.
3. The reminder that Prayer is a process and that we need to work for it is always a comfort especially when I hear others pray and start to compare my prayers to theirs. Prayer id not a contest, and it always helps to be reminded of that.
Thank you, Celine. Does Merton speak in the way you do for the first response? What about his own language? How can we begin to try and understand him on & in his terms? Also, please respond more fully to the questions. Develop. And for #3, what did you mean by comparing your prayers to others? Are you taking comfort or growing discouraged in the comparison?
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