Donald Miller Vs Thomas Merton

Within the Christian tradition, followers of Jesus have traditionally maintained that they have a personal and understandable relationship with God. They seek to develop this relationship and to more closely know their God, whom they view as being personable and approachable. In order to develop this relationship, Christians have searched for thousands of years to recognize the proper course of daily action to live a life pleasing to God. Part of this proper course of action is avoiding the trappings of the material world that hinder our relationship with God. Donald Miller, author of Blue Like Jazz, sites living without people to encourage growth as one of the largest barriers that must be passed and Thomas Merton adds an inability to fully accept vocations and make decisions as an obstacle that must be cleared before enjoying the fullness of an uninhibited relationship with God.

Donald Miller believes that humans are social creatures who cannot prosper if they are continuously isolated from the rest of society. Miller asserts that the inner soul of humans not only craves interaction but also cannot survive without it. The reason for this according to Miller is simply because God designed us that way. Why is it so important for us to maintain healthy social relationships? The first key advantage of social relationships is it guarantees that we keep a tight grasp on reality and what is and isn’t accepted in the society around us. Miller reminisces of a time he was so persistently lonely, he began to invent fictional friends to interact with because his soul so desired social contact. If people lose track of this social reality, they become unable to interact efficiently and effectively with their fellow human beings. This becomes a problem if, as Miller believes, loving your fellow humans is a little slice of heaven (173).

Living alone consistently is also an issue because it keeps one from living and participating in community. Not participating in communal activities often leads to two significant obstructions to realizing the power of a pure personal relationship with God. The first is a lack of motivation to grow as a human being and as a follower of Jesus. Without fellow humans there to push, prod, and challenge your beliefs and reasons for those beliefs, you never have reason to question those beliefs as being valid. Only through examination and contemplation can one’s beliefs become more intense with an unshakeable foundation. The second problem of living outside of community is often directly involved with this lack of thought exploration; this problem is self-absorption. As Miller puts it, self-absorption is believing that the world and your life might involve other important players, but in the end it is all about you. This selfish outtake on life decreases your ability to consider the needs of other people around you because you are so focused on satisfying your own needs. Also in your self-absorption you are failing to appreciate the gifts of the fellow humans who are also cherished and loved by God.

Merton, author of No Man is an Island, furthers the conversation about hindrances to a perfect relationship with God with his discussion of imperfect vocations and choices. According to Merton our vocation is “fulfilling our own destiny, according to God’s will, to be what God wants us to be” (131). If we do not accept our vocation and put maximum effort into it or do not take the time and energy to attempt to determine what our vocation is, then we are putting a strain on our relationship with God. One common misconception that restrains a person from fully finding their vocation is the belief that there is only one vocation for our entire life. Merton articulates his belief that it is possible for a person’s vocation to change through various points in life. For the same person at one stage in their life he may be called to be a single person and later in his life called to develop new human lives to bring glory and praise to God through the vocation of a married man and parent. A second conception problem with accepting vocations occurs when people cling to conventions that are attached with specific vocations. Convention, according to Merton, is simply accepting and repetitively following a previously established routine. In much the same way as living without community, accepting routine without question prevents a person from improving their understanding of the vocation and from growing as a person within the vocation.

A problem within itself that stems from not fully diving into a vocation is an inability or unwillingness to make choices. Merton says that a vocation itself is “making a firm decision to embrace a certain state of life and acting on that decision” (158). If one can’t make a firm decision to adopt a vocation, they will wander aimlessly, missing opportunities to fulfill the plan God has set for them. Merton believes that it’s not just in the situation of vocations that failing to make choices and decisions is a roadblock to a personal relationship with God. According to Merton, the intention behind the decision is more important than the decision itself. God specializes in taking the improper decisions we make and turning them into something beautiful. He is simply pleased by our desire to have pleased him with the decision we made, whether it truly was the correct decision or not. In this case, failing to make a choice shows not only a lack of initiative and desire to affect the outside world, but also a lack of trust in God’s ability or desire to fix our bad decisions. When we make a decision with good intentions we either directly improve the lives of those around us or improve the world through God’s intervention. Either way, by withholding our decision-making we are wasting a part of God’s gift.

Merton and Miller’s ideas on hindrances to a perfect relationship with God are similar in that they both take into account how our improper actions affect those around us. More specifically, in both cases when we are held back from strengthening our relationship with God, it is because we don’t consider the needs of others. In Miller’s chapter about community we see how difficult it is for Miller to think of his roommates’ needs after living by himself for so long. He doesn’t realize the consequences of his actions, such as throwing his roommate’s clothes on the floor, because he is convinced the world revolves around him. It is not until his roommates do confront him that he realizes his selfishness and how it was hurting those around him