As more persons see the world as it really is, the good and the bad, more and more the writings of Thomas Merton are quoted and seem to speak to the now. My friend Jim Forest, author of the revised, expanded edition of Living With Wisdom: a biography of Thomas Merton sent me this reminder from Garrison Keillor’s “Writer’s Almanac”:
“It’s the birthday of Thomas Merton, born in Prades, France in 1915. Merton was a Trappist monk, but he was also the author of more than 50 books, 2,000 poems, and a personal diary that spanned much of his lifetime.
“Merton decided to write his master’s thesis on William Blake and found himself deeply influenced by Blake. He converted to Christianity and, in 1941, entered a Trappist abbey in Kentucky where he remained for the rest of his life.
“In a diary entry written before becoming a monk, Merton wrote, ‘Going to the Trappists is exciting. I return to the idea again and again: “Give up everything, give up everything!”’
“Merton became well-known throughout the world, in part because of his writing, in particular his autobiography The Seven Story Mountain (1948). “
Also at the bottom of an email from a Catholic Worker was this new quote from Merton: “We must not lose sight of the real problem, which is not the individual with a revolver but death and even genocide as big business. . . .It is this polite, massively organized white-collar murder machine that threatens the world with destruction.” — Thomas Merton: Essential Writings (Maryknoll, N.Y., Orbis Books: 2000)’‘
For a person who lived his life in a Trappist abbey as a monk, away from the world, Thomas Merton saw the world as it is, in a timeless way. Yes we need more Merton.
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