Fifty-two years ago today, American Trappist monk Thomas Merton died by electrocution in Bangkok, Thailand (January 31, 1915 – December 10, 1968). Merton arguably was the most impactful Christian spiritual writer of the 20th century, if not in the world, then in America. Beginning with the publication of his autobiography The Seven Storey Mountain in 1948, Merton’s books made their way into the hands of serious seekers and people of faith who were Catholic, Protestant, and non-Christians. The retrieval and current interest of the contemplative (or mystical) tradition within Christianity can be traced to Merton’s writing desk.

Additionally, Merton was decades ahead of most in insisting on the relationship between faith and justice, speaking out from his monastery in Kentucky against the Vietnam War,  racism, and materialism. Like Mohandas Gandhi and the Dalai Lama, Merton was an example of someone deeply rooted in a specific religious tradition who transcended that particular tradition and formed mutually enhancing relationships with leaders, scholars, writers, and practitioners of all different religious traditions. Generation after generation, young people seem to find their way to Merton’s life story and his voluminous output keeping almost all of his books in print to this day. Like the litany of sages before him, his vision and words are not time-bound but go to the heart of what it means to be human, what the consequences and blessings are for those who seek God and join in the cosmic dance.

♦ Find below one of my favorite passages of Merton’s from his classic New Seeds of Contemplation and his well-known prayer first printed in his book Thoughts in Solitude:

Our vocation is not simply to be, but to work together with God in the creation of our own life, our own identity, our own destiny.

We are free beings and sons [and daughters] of God.

This means to say that we should not passively exist, but actively participate in [God’s]* creative freedom, in our own lives, and in the lives of others, by choosing the truth.

To put it better, we are even called to share with God the work of creating the truth of our identity.

We can evade this responsibility by playing with masks, and this pleases us because it can appear at times to be a free and creative way of living. It is quite easy, it seems to please everyone. But in the long run the cost and the sorrow come very high.

To work out our own identity in God, which the Bible calls “working out our salvation,” is a labor that requires sacrifice and anguish, risk and many tears. It demands close attention to reality at every moment, and great fidelity to God as [God] reveals [God]self, obscurely, in the mystery of each new situation.

We do not know clearly beforehand what the result of this work will be.

The secret of my full identity is hidden in [God]. [God] alone can make me who I am, or rather who I will be when at last I fully begin to be.

But unless I desire this identity and work to find it with [God] and in [God], the work will never be done. The way of doing it is a secret I can learn from no one else but [God].

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 understand myself.
And the fact that I think I am following Your will
does not mean I am actually doing so.
But I believe that the desire to please you
does in fact please you.
And I hope I have the 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 I will 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 troubles alone.

♦ Regarding the passage from Thomas Merton’s New Seeds of Contemplation
* NB! Thomas Merton wrote before we gained an awareness of inclusive language whether human or in reference to God. I have taken the liberty to make the language inclusive. I believe it is in keeping with Merton’s own work and spirit.

PHOTOGRAPHS: (Left) Merton and the Dalai Lama. (Right) Merton and Thich Nhat Hanh. Color photo: the road to St. Mary’s hermitage on the Codroy River in Newfoundland.

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