Thomas Merton hermitage Gethsemani Monastery
December 10th marked the 50th anniversary of the death of the monk, mystic, and social activist, Thomas Merton. It was an untimely death by accidental electrocution while he was attending a meeting of religious leaders in Thailand. Through the years Merton has developed relationships with the Dalai Lama and Thich Nat Hanh and many others with whom he shared a commitment to ecumenism and contemplation.
Merton wrote more than 60 books but one of my favourites is actually Kathleen Deignan's skillful compendium of 300 excerpts about nature and creation called When the Trees Say Nothing: Writings on Nature. Many of them were journal entries during his time living in a hermitage on the grounds of Gethsemani Trappist monastery in Kentucky. http://www.monks.org/ My copy of the book has become rather battered in appearance through the years because I've taken it on many a ramble and read from it for my own moments of reflection in nature.
It's hard to know what would have transpired for Merton had he lived beyond the age of 54. While hospitalized with a serious heart condition the year before his death Merton met a much younger nurse and the long-standing speculation is that he fell in love with her. Would he have left the monastic life to pursue this relationship? What would the outcome have been for a hermit who was increasingly vocal about the Viet Nam War. And paths would he have traveled as a result of his deep interest in the intersection between spiritual traditions in regard to the contemplative life?
I would certainly encourage reading Merton's autobiography, The Seven Storey Mountain, books he wrote, and books written about him. Check out the Thomas Merton Center website http://merton.org/
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