Dear Miscellaneous Mystics:

The other day I read the quote attributed to Thomas Merton (1915-1968), “People may spend their whole lives climbing the ladder of success only to find, once they reach the top, that the ladder is leaning against the wrong wall.” I thought it was a great metaphor for this year’s stewardship theme, “A Way of Seeing”. I wanted to find the context in which the great contemplative American monk uttered these wise words, hoping to find an even deeper explication of how Merton perceived the shallowness of human ambition. It was my intent to stand with him in deep discernment made possible by his many years of silent reflection.

The more I dug, however, the more disappointing my search became. Scrolling through various quote archives, I stumbled on a similar quote buried as a filler in the ‘sporting section’ of The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, December 30, 1915: “When you get to the top of the ladder you may find it is propped against the wrong wall.” Since this version was published when Merton was 11 months old, I figured it might not have been original to him. While Merton may have added the “ladder of success” to the underlying metaphor, I also could not find the quote attributed to him in any form until 2011, decades after his passing. Obviously, someone else needed Merton to have said it. That’s the problem with wisdom—we need it to come from wise people. To be fair, the 1915 quote was attributed to Allen Raine. Raine was the male pseudonym of a popular female Welsh novelist named Anne Adaliza Evans. It is unclear from the citation if Allen Raine was Evans’ penname or another now misattributed Allen Raine. We cannot know; in Anne Evans’ day, she could only be considered worth reading if everyone thought she was a he. Sadly, credibility has always been intertwined with identity.

Which brings me to something you may need to consider when thinking of church giving. As pastor it is my honor to have some picture of just how much people contribute. Some congregations insist that the pastor have no knowledge of who’s giving what for fear that s/he/they may provide deference or discrimination to members based on the size of their contributions. Unfortunately, I have witnessed just the opposite with pastors bending over backwards for those of presumed generosity, while giving less attention to those of more humble means, all based on reputation rather than reality. And, while it may make some nervous that the minister may function like Santa Claus (he knows when you’ve been stingy, he knows when you’ve been good), the reality has been significantly more humbling. As pastor I have been deeply moved, witnessing sacrificial contributions from people who set aside reasonable life comforts to be generous to their church. It makes me think twice about being wasteful with their and your gifts of money and time.

Occasionally a church need has been delightfully covered by someone who wishes to remain anonymous; only our accountant and I know the identity of the benefactor. Usually, it’s not who you think. Great gifts occasionally arrive from unexpected donors comfortably hiding behind their pseudonyms. Not every rich insight comes from the expected source. An anonymous sportswriter shares wisdom from an obscure Welsh author; a humble quiet member covers the cost of a needed church repair. In either case we should be blessed by the gift and not presume to judge the giver. It is, you might say, a way of seeing.

Finding wisdom and generosity in unexpected places, I remain,

With Love,
Jonathan Krogh
Your Pastor