Remembering Thomas Merton
19/01/16 05:35
Thomas Merton is one of those figures who has had a deep influence on a lot of other people. Part of his influence came from the fact that he was a prolific writer. He was only 53 at the time of his death, yet he wrote over 70 books and has been the subject of many biographies and reflections over the years since.
Both of Merton’s parents were artists, his mother an American Quaker and his father a native of New Zealand. He was baptized in the Anglican Church of England, and raised with a variety of religious experiences. His mother died of cancer when he was a young boy. His father re-married, but Thomas did not develop a close relationship with his step mother. He lived part of the time with his mother’s family before being enrolled in a boarding school in France. He later studied in boarding schools in England.
He enrolled in Clare College of Cambridge University, but was not diligent in his studies, spending more time in local pubs than at his studies. Details of this phase of his life are sketchy. He enrolled as a sophomore at Columbia University in New York. It was there that he began to take his studies more seriously and started a serious exploration of the Catholic faith. A course on Thomas Aquinas was deeply influential in his spiritual journey and he began to explore a vocation as a Catholic Priest.
There were many friendships in his life that were deeply influential, including those with Robert Lax and Ed Rice. It was through Lax that Merton learned about St. Bonaventure University, where Merton taught for a while before entering the Abbey of Gethsemani, a Trappist monastery.
One of the best sources of information on the life of Thomas Merton is his autobiography, “The Seven Storey Mountain.”
It seems that there was a bit of tension between the leaders of the usually reclusive Trappist monks and Merton, who wrote prolifically and was constantly publishing books about himself, about Christian service, life and faith and a wide variety of other topics. I suspect that Merton was just a little too open and a little too public for the generally reclusive Trappists. Although Merton lived in a Hermitage and accepted the discipline of separation from he world, he seems to have spend a great deal of his time writing and communicating. He carried on extensive conversations by letter with Lax and other of his friends.
I don’t know the internal dynamics of the Trappist monastery, nor do I know the thoughts and intentions of the leaders who worked with Merton, but I suspect that his openness, especially his frank conversations about his struggles and shortcomings, presented an image that was different from the ideal to which the monks were striving. Merton was very human with a life of mistakes and shortcomings and an awareness of the gap between his ideals and the reality of his life. I suspect that the Trappist leaders prefer such struggles to be more private and less public than was the case with Merton.
Whatever were the dynamics, in his short life Merton produced a body of work that is wide and complex. Many of his books are readily available in bookstores. Some of his books were co-authored, such as “Contemplative Prayer,” written with Buddhist monk Tich Nhat Hanh. Others were collected from his unpublished writings at the time of his death by scholars such as “A Year with Thomas Merton,” collected by Johathan Montaido.
The popularity of Merton may well have to do with his human failings. Because he lived a life that was filled with struggles and imperfections, he may be more accessible than others whose failings are not quite so apparent. He was deeply serious about his faith and disciplined in his practice. He sought to connect with God in real and meaningful ways, respectful of tradition, but open to new avenues. He was very ecumenical in his approach to the practice of faith and sought to connect with deep thinkers and faith practitioners of other traditions. He was especially attracted by Eastern religions. Throughout his life he studied Buddhism, Taoism, Hinduism, Jainism and Sufism in addition to his monastic studies.
He was far less concerned with doctrine or intellectual ideas about faith than he was with the experience of living with faith.
It was on a trip to Thailand to attend an interfaith conference between Catholic and non-Christian monks that he was accidentally electrocuted by a faulty electric fan while stepping out of his bath. It was possible that a preexisting heart condition contributed to his death from the electric shock. It was 27 years to the day of his entrance into the Abbey of Gethssemani, where he is buried.
Merton was far more interested in spiritual experience than in the ideas and concepts of religion. He wrote of Christianity’s Cartesian emphasis on “the reification of concepts, idolization of the reflexive consciousness, flight from being into verbalism, mathematics, and rationalization.” I don’t think that this meant, however, that Merton was disinterested in ideas about faith. He seems to have invested much of his life in the study of the concepts and doctrines of Christianity. His personal theology was what I would describe as mainstream Christianity. He seemed to enjoy the interplay of mind upon mind involved in the discussion of ideas and concepts. He was, however, always reaching for more, examining the connections between different faiths not on the level of belief or doctrine, but on the level of practice and experience.
In “Thoughts on Solitude” there is a prayer that particularly captures the life of Merton:
"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 that 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 will I 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."
Such a prayer is one that we all can pray.
Both of Merton’s parents were artists, his mother an American Quaker and his father a native of New Zealand. He was baptized in the Anglican Church of England, and raised with a variety of religious experiences. His mother died of cancer when he was a young boy. His father re-married, but Thomas did not develop a close relationship with his step mother. He lived part of the time with his mother’s family before being enrolled in a boarding school in France. He later studied in boarding schools in England.
He enrolled in Clare College of Cambridge University, but was not diligent in his studies, spending more time in local pubs than at his studies. Details of this phase of his life are sketchy. He enrolled as a sophomore at Columbia University in New York. It was there that he began to take his studies more seriously and started a serious exploration of the Catholic faith. A course on Thomas Aquinas was deeply influential in his spiritual journey and he began to explore a vocation as a Catholic Priest.
There were many friendships in his life that were deeply influential, including those with Robert Lax and Ed Rice. It was through Lax that Merton learned about St. Bonaventure University, where Merton taught for a while before entering the Abbey of Gethsemani, a Trappist monastery.
One of the best sources of information on the life of Thomas Merton is his autobiography, “The Seven Storey Mountain.”
It seems that there was a bit of tension between the leaders of the usually reclusive Trappist monks and Merton, who wrote prolifically and was constantly publishing books about himself, about Christian service, life and faith and a wide variety of other topics. I suspect that Merton was just a little too open and a little too public for the generally reclusive Trappists. Although Merton lived in a Hermitage and accepted the discipline of separation from he world, he seems to have spend a great deal of his time writing and communicating. He carried on extensive conversations by letter with Lax and other of his friends.
I don’t know the internal dynamics of the Trappist monastery, nor do I know the thoughts and intentions of the leaders who worked with Merton, but I suspect that his openness, especially his frank conversations about his struggles and shortcomings, presented an image that was different from the ideal to which the monks were striving. Merton was very human with a life of mistakes and shortcomings and an awareness of the gap between his ideals and the reality of his life. I suspect that the Trappist leaders prefer such struggles to be more private and less public than was the case with Merton.
Whatever were the dynamics, in his short life Merton produced a body of work that is wide and complex. Many of his books are readily available in bookstores. Some of his books were co-authored, such as “Contemplative Prayer,” written with Buddhist monk Tich Nhat Hanh. Others were collected from his unpublished writings at the time of his death by scholars such as “A Year with Thomas Merton,” collected by Johathan Montaido.
The popularity of Merton may well have to do with his human failings. Because he lived a life that was filled with struggles and imperfections, he may be more accessible than others whose failings are not quite so apparent. He was deeply serious about his faith and disciplined in his practice. He sought to connect with God in real and meaningful ways, respectful of tradition, but open to new avenues. He was very ecumenical in his approach to the practice of faith and sought to connect with deep thinkers and faith practitioners of other traditions. He was especially attracted by Eastern religions. Throughout his life he studied Buddhism, Taoism, Hinduism, Jainism and Sufism in addition to his monastic studies.
He was far less concerned with doctrine or intellectual ideas about faith than he was with the experience of living with faith.
It was on a trip to Thailand to attend an interfaith conference between Catholic and non-Christian monks that he was accidentally electrocuted by a faulty electric fan while stepping out of his bath. It was possible that a preexisting heart condition contributed to his death from the electric shock. It was 27 years to the day of his entrance into the Abbey of Gethssemani, where he is buried.
Merton was far more interested in spiritual experience than in the ideas and concepts of religion. He wrote of Christianity’s Cartesian emphasis on “the reification of concepts, idolization of the reflexive consciousness, flight from being into verbalism, mathematics, and rationalization.” I don’t think that this meant, however, that Merton was disinterested in ideas about faith. He seems to have invested much of his life in the study of the concepts and doctrines of Christianity. His personal theology was what I would describe as mainstream Christianity. He seemed to enjoy the interplay of mind upon mind involved in the discussion of ideas and concepts. He was, however, always reaching for more, examining the connections between different faiths not on the level of belief or doctrine, but on the level of practice and experience.
In “Thoughts on Solitude” there is a prayer that particularly captures the life of Merton:
"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 that 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 will I 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."
Such a prayer is one that we all can pray.