"Seeing your own thought objectified in the mirror of another makes you return with greater profit to your own mirror" [Merton p352]. Dear, William, You have just opened to me a window to the seven volumes of the Thomas Merton Journals. Sparking and sizzling wires come alive at a touch in Mertons writing. I am ashamed like the bus man on holiday, or the monk in solitude, the seven volumes of the Journals of Merton are opened for this first time – and thrilled at the discovered, or rather thanks to your uncovering the rich seem of gold. The secret of Merton is to open the associations and links to everything. As expressed in the quote above. As in the discussion about Luke 6:5 we feel the unwinding power of some simple word of Scripture. “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath” words unfold to “Son of Man” / “Lord” / “Sabbath” into open our thought “objectified in the mirror of another in great profit in our own mirror. Seeing the Christological powerful light reflecting in our darkness. For the moment the magic of Merton oils the grinding wheels. Below, the content from the boot dust jacked of “Entering the Silence” of Merton, serves to prime me into the amazing Mertonia. ----- Forwarded Message ---- From: William J ….> To: Donald ….> Sent: Mon, 6 September, 2010 9:44:57 Subject: Sabbath - "the interior life of God" Dear Father Donald, I was struck by an amazing perspective in Thomas Merton's 2nd journal, "Entering the Silence", p 354, written by him as he contemplated "What is implied by the expression "in the name of my Father?" Jesus came to us having nothing of His own. Not merely did He have nowhere to rest His head, not only was He poor on earth, but He explains that the very fact of His divine generation means that He has absolutely nothing of Himself and yet He is everything. In this same chapter Jesus defended Himself against the charge of violating the Sabbath by explaining that He lived in the very heart of the Sabbath, which is the interior life of God, where "The Father works and I work [5:17]" and that "the Son cannot do anything of Himself, but what He seeth the Father doing [5:19]."" ___________________________________________________ PS. There is a marvellous entry in the journal on the meaning of Scripture [p 349]: "Merely to set down some of the communicable meanings that can be found in a passage of Scripture is not to exhaust the true meaning or value of that passage. Every word that comes from the mouth of God is nourishment that feeds the soul with eternal life. Everywhere there are doors and windows opened into the same eternity, and the most powerful communication of Scripture is the engrafted word, the secret and inexpressible seed of contemplation planted in the depths of our soul and awakening it with an immediate and inexpressible contact with the Living Word, that we may adore Him in Spirit and in Truth." ___________________________________________________ PPS. One comment from the journal tells me why TM's intimate writings are so attractive.... "Seeing your own thought objectified in the mirror of another makes you return with greater profit to your own mirror" [p352]. One Sabbath day's journey, …. in Our Lord, William - - - - - - - - - - - - - - The Journals of Thomas Merton / Volume 2: 1941-1952 / Patrick Hart O.C.S.O. General Editor. Entering the Silence. Becoming a Monk and Writer. Edited by Jonathan Montaldo. “Let me keep silence in this world, except in so far as God wills and in the way He wills it. Let me at least disappears into the writing I do. It should mean nothing special to me, not harm my recollection. The work could be a prayer; its results should not concern me.” (December 14, 1946). During his arduous days and nights in the silence of the monastery, the young Thomas Merton simultaneously advanced to priesthood and emerged as a surprising bestselling author when his spiritual autobiography, The Seven Storey Mountain, was published in 1948. Spanning the journal entries in an eleven year period from December 12, 1941, to July 5, 1952, Entering the Silence unfolds Merton's budding literary career and the development of his spiritual ideas in a uniquely personal literary style that would propel his writings into the mainstream. As the demands of his literary success rose, so did the tensions between remaining an observant monk and a talented, prolific writer. Faithful to both of these passions, Merton struggled with the requirements of daily monastic life while he continued to grace the world with his fresh observations and profound insights. This second volume in the Merton journals includes passionate descriptions of monastic life silence, chanting, farm work, the community of monks-and touchingly exhibits the young priest's edication to writing. "At work—writing--I am doing a little better. I mean, I am less tied up in it, more peaceful and detached. Taking one thing at a time and going over it slowly and patiently and forgetting the other jobs that have to take their turn." As Merton's talent as a writer blossomed, he eloquently reconciled his spiritual life with his writing life, drawing deep connections between the two. Long-awaited and endlessly fascinating, Merton's journals offer, as Henri Nouwen has noted, "a unique insight into the mind and heart of the most important spiritual writer of the twentieth century." THOMAS MERTON (1915-1968) was a Trappist monk, spiritual master, writer, and peace activist. His spiritual classics include New Seeds of Contemplation, The Sign of Jonas, Mystics and Zen Masters, and The JONATHAN MONTALDO writes and lectures extensively on Thomas Merton and is an adviser to the Merton Seasonal Review. Religion / Spirituality "The trick is always to find the spiritual deeply embedded in this world, and to discover our own eternal dimensions in the midst of our foibles, failures, and sometimes neurotic idiosyncrasies. We have no better guide in these things than Merton, and you couldn't ask for a more lively writer.” Thomas Moore June 19, 1947 I think God does not want me to write any more the way I have written before--taking an idea and working it out in cold blood .... If God gives me something directly and spontaneously about Himself, I will write it. Otherwise I will keep quiet. That means no more volumes of poetry for a long time perhaps, and it may mean little or no variety, and it might mean complete silence. However, I see nothing for me to write that is not simply a song about His Love and about contemplation. Everything else bores and fatigues me and dries me up. I’ll write what God gives me, not as a writer, but as a lover of God and for Him alone. Then, if He wants it printed, He can take it and print it. --from Entering the Silence Book Cover. Harper Collins 1995 |
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