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| Thomas Merton |
Merton’s influence through his
writing is special because it is tremendously detailed as well as open and
honest, allowing his readers to experience the ups and downs in life with
him. His written life allows me to
somewhat live vicariously through him, feeling as though I am right alongside
him facing the same things. The vivid
imagery he utilizes captures the reader, pulling them into the broader
spiritual autobiography. This detail,
coupled with intimate feelings, is what makes Merton’s writing so unique.
Just as “his literary background
and interest influenced the way he wrote about spirituality (and made it so
different from other writers in the field), so his literary works – in a more
hidden yet no less telling way – reflect and embody his spirituality.”[1] Merton’s own writings have had profound
influence on the generations following his life. “Christian readers enjoyed a certain frisson
in reading about the life of a person who turned from sin and evil to a life of
graced conversion.”[2] The
Seven Storey Mountain, his first big success as a writer, was an honest
reflection on his spiritual journey. Not
only that, but it was relatable because of its modernity; people could share in
his intellectualism and jazz-loving ways.
Peter Kountz discusses the
importance of Merton’s dual vocations as writer and monk. He states that “the two vocations affected
each other, ultimately making the monk more worldly and the writer more
contemplative (monastic).”[3] Though he tells his own story, Merton draws
the reader into the monastic life and thus into a closer union with God. Merton’s influence spans the depths of what
it means to be a contemplative. One’s
gifts can be utilized to further their life within the faith, rather than
taking them out of it. William Shannon articulated
Merton’s influence through his writing perfectly in the following passage:
“Had Merton been forced to stop
writing he would have shriveled up as a monk, perhaps even left the monastery. God does not give gifts for us to throw them
away. Moreover, if Merton had persisted
in believing (if he ever really believed it) that were he to use his gift as a
writer he could not be a contemplative, his most important message for the
contemporary world would have been muted.
For if one cannot be both a contemplative and a writer, it would follow
that one could not be both a contemplative and a housewife, a contemplative and
a truck driver, a contemplative and a teacher, a contemplative and a worker on
the assembly line.”[4]
Merton’s main task, as Henri Nouwen put it, was “the
unmasking of an illusion.”[5] Though he would have done well to be in the
frontlines of the civil rights movement, he was able to influence countless
others through his writing for the purpose of bringing light to certain
situations. He allowed his readers to
engage in the contemplative life regardless of various other pieces of their
lives that could hold them back. He
wanted to help others approach prayer and solitude to dismantle the illusions
the world had put in place. He was aware of the power of language to oppress or to
emancipate”[6]
and used a bold approach with topic choices to do just that.
[1]
William H. Shannon, ed. “Preface.” In The Courage for Truth: the Letters
of Thomas Merton to Writers, (New York: Farrar Straus & Giroux, 1993), viii.
[2]
Cunningham, 33.
[3]
Peter Kountz, Chicago
Studies in the History of American Religion, vol. 11, Thomas Merton as Writer and Monk: a
Cultural Study, 1915-1951 (Brooklyn,
NY: Carlson Pub., 1991), xxviii.
[4]
Shannon, 35.
[5]
Nouwen, 54.
[6]
Fernando Beltrán Llavador, “Brother Silence,
Sister Word: Merton’s Conversion and Conversation in Solitude and Society”, Thomas Merton Society (1996):
1, accessed May 20, 2014, http://www.thomasmertonsociety.org/fernando.htm.
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