If we are the sons of God then we are “joint heirs” (Rom. 8:17), co-heirs with Christ our brother. The heir is one who has a right to his Father’s possessions. Whoever has the fulness of Christian life is no longer a dog eating the crumbs under the father’s table, but a son who sits and banquets with the Father. This is precisely the lot of the mature Christian, for by the Ascension of Christ, as St. Paul says, “[God] seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.”
THOMAS MERTON The New Man
