"The Merton Prayer" from [Thoughts in Solitude, Part Two, Chapter II]

The Abbey of Our Lady of Gethsemani, Kentucky, U.S.

 

 

 

Thomas Merton, O.C.S.O.

 (January 31, 1915 - December 10, 1968)

was an Anglo-American Catholic writer and mystic.

 

 

 

The Merton Prayer

 

In Thoughts in Solitude, Part Two, Chapter II consists of fifteen lines that have become known as "the Merton Prayer."

 

MY LORD GOD, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road, though I may know nothing about it. Therefore I will trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.

 

<http://www.mertoninstitute.org/aboutThomasMerton/TheMertonPrayer/tabid/64/Default.aspx>

 

 

MY LORD GOD,

주, 나의 하느님,

 

I have no idea where I am going.

제가 지금 어디로 가고 있는 것인지 알 수가 없습니다.

 

I do not see the road ahead of me.

제 앞에 놓인 길은 보이지 않습니다.

 

I cannot know for certain where it will end.

그 길이 어디서 끝날지 저는 알지 못합니다.

 

Nor do I really know myself,

and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that

I am actually doing so.

사실 전 저 자신조차 알지 못합니다.

당신의 뜻을 따르고 있다고 생각한다고 해서

실제로 하느님의 뜻대로 행하고 있는 것은 아닐 것입니다.

 

 But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you.

그러나 한가지 확신하건데 당신을 기쁘게 하고자 하는 마음이 당신을 기쁘게 한다는 사실입니다.

 

And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing.

제가 행하는 모든 일 가운데 그런 마음을 갖게 되길 원합니다.

 

I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire.

당신을 기쁘게 하고자 하는 마음이 아니라면 그 어떤 것도 하지 않기를 원합니다.

 

And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road,

though I may know nothing about it.

제가 당신을 기쁘게 하고자 한다면 당신은 저를 옳은 길로 인도하실 것입니다.

제가 그 길에 대해 전혀 알지 못한다고 할지라도 말입니다.

 

Therefore I will trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death.

그러므로 때로 죽음의 그림자 가운데 길을 잃은 듯 보일지라도 저는 당신을 항상 신뢰할 것입니다.

 

I will not fear, for you are ever with me,

and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.

당신께서는 제가 인생의 위험을

홀로 맞닥뜨리도록 놔두지 아니하시고 

항상 저와 함께 하실 것이기에 저는 두려워하지 않을 것입니다.

 

 

 

 

 

 

♪ God Be With You till We Meet again

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thomas Merton, O.C.S.O. (January 31, 1915 – December 10, 1968) was an Anglo-American Catholic writer and mystic. A Trappist monk of the Abbey of Gethsemani,Kentucky, he was a poet, social activist, and student of comparative religion. In 1949, he was ordained to the priesthood and given the name Father Louis.^[Merton wrote more than 70 books, mostly on spirituality, social justice and a quiet pacifism, as well as scores of essays and reviews, including his best-selling autobiography, The Seven Storey Mountain (1948), which sent scores of World War II veterans, students, and even teenagers flocking to monasteries across the US, and was also featured in National Review's list of the 100 best non-fiction books of the century. Merton was a keen proponent of interfaith understanding. He pioneered dialogue with prominent Asian spiritual figures, including the Dalai Lama, the Japanese writer D.T. Suzuki, and the Vietnamese monk Thich Nhat Hanh. Merton has also been the subject ofseveral biographies.   From: http://www.ask.com/wiki/Thomas_Merton