Who was this Thomas Merton--Cited by the Pope's in today's Congressional Address?

[KoKo]

The Thomas Merton Center at Bellarmine University
Thomas Merton's Life and Work


http://www.merton.org/chrono.aspx




Thomas Merton (1915-1968) is arguably the most influential American Catholic author of the twentieth century. His autobiography, The Seven Storey Mountain, has sold over one million copies and has been translated into over fifteen languages. He wrote over sixty other books and hundreds of poems and articles on topics ranging from monastic spirituality to civil rights, nonviolence, and the nuclear arms race.

Thomas Merton was born in Prades, France. His New Zealand-born father, Owen Merton, and his American-born mother, Ruth Jenkins, were both artists. They had met at painting school in Paris, were married at St. Anne's Church, Soho, London and returned to the France where Thomas Merton was born on January 31st, 1915.

After a rambunctious youth and adolescence, Merton converted to Roman Catholicism whilst at Columbia University and on December 10th, 1941 he entered the Abbey of Gethsemani, a community of monks belonging to the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance (Trappists), the most ascetic Roman Catholic monastic order.

The twenty-seven years he spent in Gethsemani brought about profound changes in his self-understanding. This ongoing conversion impelled him into the political arena, where he became, according to Daniel Berrigan, the conscience of the peace movement of the 1960's. Referring to race and peace as the two most urgent issues of our time, Merton was a strong supporter of the nonviolent civil rights movement, which he called "certainly the greatest example of Christian faith in action in the social history of the United States." For his social activism Merton endured severe criticism, from Catholics and non-Catholics alike, who assailed his political writings as unbecoming of a monk.

During his last years, he became deeply interested in Asian religions, particularly Zen Buddhism, and in promoting East-West dialogue. After several meetings with Merton during the American monk's trip to the Far East in 1968, the Dalai Lama praised him as having a more profound understanding of Buddhism than any other Christian he had known. It was during this trip to a conference on East-West monastic dialogue that Merton died, in Bangkok on December 10, 1968, the victim of an accidental electrocution. The date marked the twenty-seventh anniversary of his entrance to Gethsemani.

MORE About MERTON:

Biography

Chronology of Life & Publications

Posthumous Publications

Bibliography

Owen Merton

http://www.merton.org/chrono.aspx

[Octafish]

1. Merton became, according to Daniel Berrigan, the conscience of the peace movement of the 1960's.

A profound life.

“The Unspeakable” is a term Thomas Merton coined at the heart of the sixties after JFK’s assassination—in the midst of the escalating Vietnam War, the nuclear arms race, and the further assassinations of Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, and Robert Kennedy. In each of those soul-shaking events Merton sensed an evil whose depth and deceit seemed to go beyond the capacity of words to describe.

“One of the awful facts of our age,” Merton wrote in 1965, “is the evidence that (the world) is stricken indeed, stricken to the very core of its being by the presence of the Unspeakable.” The Vietnam War, the race to a global war, and the interlocking murders of John Kennedy, Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, and Robert Kennedy were all signs of the Unspeakable. It remains deeply present in our world. As Merton warned, “Those who are at present so eager to be reconciled with the world at any price must take care not to be reconciled with it under this particular aspect: as the nest of the Unspeakable. This is what too few are willing to see.”(4)

When we become more deeply human, as Merton understood the process, the wellspring of our compassion moves us to confront the Unspeakable.

—Jim Douglass, JFK and The Unspeakable – Why He Died and Why It Matters, p. xv

Orbis Books, 2008, (hardcover) Simon & Schuster 2010 (softcover)

http://ratical.org/ratville/JFK/Unspeakable/

Thank you for remembering, KoKo!

[sabrina 1]

3. Thanks Koko. Interesting that the Pope remembered him.

I was not familiar with him until now.

He sounds like a unique individual and 'unspeakable' is a good word for what the world was and still is experiencing.

[Octafish]

5. Forgot link!

D'oh!

http://ratical.org/ratville/JFK/Unspeakable/

[KoKo]

9. Hey that's a Good Read...and a little quote:

When we become more deeply human, as Merton understood the process, the wellspring of our compassion moves us to confront the Unspeakable. Merton was pointing to a kind of systemic evil that defies speech. For Merton, the Unspeakable was, at bottom, a void: “It is the void that contradicts everything that is spoken even before the words are said; the void that gets into the language of public and official declarations at the very moment when they are pronounced, and makes them ring dead with the hollowness of the abyss. It is the void out of which Eichmann drew the punctilious exactitude of his obedience . . .”[5]
In our Cold War history, the Unspeakable was the void in our government's covert-action doctrine of “plausible deniability,” sanctioned by the June 18, 1948, National Security Council directive NSC 10/2.[6] Under the direction of Allen Dulles, the CIA interpreted “plausible deniability” as a green light to assassinate national leaders, overthrow governments, and lie to cover up any trace of accountability—all for the sake of promoting U.S. interests and maintaining our nuclear-backed dominance over the Soviet Union and other nations.[7]
JFK and The Unspeakable, p. xv-xvi

[sabrina 1]

19. The CIA should be aboloshed. They define the word 'unspeakable' imo.

[KoKo]

20. Don't think we could abolish them...but diminishment and accoutability

would at least be a start. Regulation...by some kind of non-partisan governing board. Good luck with that, though. We've gone down the road of De-Regulation so far.....it would take decades...sadly.

And...each Administration still picks their insiders to Regulate and its hardly Bi-Partisan when Corporations Rule our Govt. Still....maybe Bernie could begin to make a change.

[MADem]

2. ...the victim of an accidental electrocution.....

On December 10, 1968 Thomas Merton died of an accidental electric shock from a faulty electric fan in his cottage at the Red Cross Conference Center in Samut Prakan, Thailand. Merton had presented a paper at a conference of monastics that morning.

http://mertoninasia.blogspot.com/2008/12/thomas-merton.html


What a freakish way to go--details, here: http://fatherlouie.blogspot.com/2006/12/death-of-thomas-merton.html

[KoKo]

7. Sorry...Double Post..Internet Connection Fail..Delete

[KoKo]

8. Some Theological RW writer I read thought Merton got his due with the electrocution

and it was the usual disgusting thing one would expect (even though she appeared to have some credentials)...but,to that critique of Merton he was truly and interesting man, imho.

The writer of the article seemed to feel that because Merton embraced "other religions" that he had delved into the "dark side" and therefore wasn't a True Catholic but someone who was into mysticism that allowed Satanic thoughts to invade his mind. The article was written as a scholarly rebuttal of Merton but like all RW "Drivil with a Pupose" it was easy to see that the writer didn't have an "inclusive" viewpoint since she tarred Merton for delving to deeply into other Religious practices which could compliment Catholisim for new generations and not be a detriment.

Merton did delve into "other faiths"...but, he was searching for connections to broaden his faith to be more inclusive as he lived his monastic life and probed further than might have been within the limits of his Trappist Order.

But, then, religion is a very private matter and I'm not taking a stand one way or the other.

He was an Interesting Man in his Journey is why I posted and, because the Pope mentioned him as an influence of the 4 Most Important influences in his own thinking that he wanted to cite in his address.

I did think his Dorothy Day post was also interesting since she had an abortion early on in a relationship in her young years and had many different partners...but, her later work showed (in the Pope's mind) that her repentance for her "sins" redeemed her in the Catholic Church's Mind because of her Good Works after her young experiences.

Whatever. I find Merton interesting for our time and age...since we seem to be revisiting the issues of the late 60's these days. And Dorothy Day fits into that age retrospective ...Revisited...also.

[MADem]

16. Typically intolerant "all or nothing" wingnut, eh?

OMG, having an understanding of other faiths and cultures is ... baaaaad!

Gee, wonder if this pope will let priests run for public office again? MA used to be represented in the House by one...people liked him, too:

Although a poll at the time showed that 30% of the voters in his district thought it was improper for a priest to run for office, Drinan considered politics a natural extension of his work in public affairs and human rights.

His run for office came a year after he returned from a trip to Vietnam, where he said he discovered that the number of political prisoners being held in South Vietnam was rapidly increasing, contrary to State Department reports. And in a book the next year, he urged the Catholic Church to condemn the war as "morally objectionable."

Drinan ran for Congress on an anti-Vietnam War platform. During his congressional tenure, he continued to dress in the robes of his clerical order and lived in a simple room in the Jesuit community at Georgetown.

But Drinan wore his liberal views more prominently. He opposed the draft, worked to abolish mandatory retirement and raised eyebrows with his more moderate views on abortion and birth control.

And he became the first member of Congress to call for the impeachment of President Nixon -- although the call wasn't related to the Watergate scandal, but what Drinan viewed as the administration's undeclared war against Cambodia.

[KoKo]

18. This brings back memories.........

Thanks for the Memory Refresh! Interesting isn't it...what happened to him. We are revisiting many issues of the Late 60's. So, its fascinating to re-read this and what happened to him, sadly, imho...although I'm not fond of Religion in Politics...it unfortunately is thick in it and moreso these days. I think this was around the time Merton was delving into "other faiths" and times had changed and people were becoming less radical by 1980 and then Reagan came along.

-----------I refreshed memory..........

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Drinan

Drinan was the first member of Congress, in July 1973, to introduce a resolution calling for the impeachment of President Richard Nixon, though not for the Watergate Scandal that ultimately ended Nixon's presidency. Drinan believed that Nixon's secret bombing of Cambodia was illegal, and as such, constituted a "high crime and misdemeanor". However, the Judiciary Committee voted 21 to 12 against including that charge among the articles of impeachment that were eventually approved and reported out to the full House of Representatives. As a member of the Judiciary Committee, Drinan played an integral role in the Congressional investigation of Nixon Administration misdeeds and crimes.

Throughout Drinan's political career, his overt support of abortion rights drew significant opposition from Church leaders. They had repeatedly requested that he not hold political office.[2][4] Drinan attempted to reconcile his position with official Church doctrine by stating that while he was personally opposed to abortion, considering it "virtual infanticide,"[5] its legality was a separate issue from its morality. This argument failed to satisfy his critics. According to the Wall Street Journal, Drinan played a key role in the pro-choice platform becoming a common stance of politicians from the Kennedy family.[6]

In 1980, Pope John Paul II unequivocally demanded that all priests withdraw from electoral politics. Fellow Democrat Father Robert John Cornell, who was seeking a rematch in Wisconsin, and Drinan complied and did not seek reelection.[2]

"'It is just unthinkable,' he said of the idea of renouncing the priesthood to stay in office. 'I am proud and honored to be a priest and a Jesuit. As a person of faith I must believe that there is work for me to do which somehow will be more important than the work I am required to leave.'"[7]

Following his death, members of Congress honored Drinan's memory with a moment of silence on the House floor on January 29, 2007.
Teaching, writing, and later life

Drinan taught at the Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, D.C. from 1981 to 2007, where his academic work and classes focused on legal ethics and international human rights. He privately sponsored human rights missions to countries such as Chile, the Philippines, El Salvador, and Vietnam. In 1987, he founded the Georgetown Journal of Legal Ethics. He regularly contributed to law reviews and journals, and authored several books, including The Mobilization of Shame: A World View of Human Rights, published by Yale University Press in 2001.

Drinan continued to be a vocal supporter of abortion rights, much to the ire of the Catholic Church, and notably spoke out in support of President Bill Clinton's veto of the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act in 1996.[8] In his weekly column for the Catholic New York,[9] Cardinal John O'Connor sharply denounced Drinan. "You could have raised your voice for life; you raised it for death," the cardinal wrote, "Hardly the role of a lawyer. Surely not the role of a priest."

Drinan died of pneumonia and congestive heart failure on January 28, 2007 in Washington, D.C.[10]

Upon Drinan's death, Georgetown University Law Center Dean, T. Alexander Aleinikoff, made the following statement: "Few have accomplished as much as Father Drinan and fewer still have done so much to make the world a better place. His passing is a terrible loss for the community, the country and the world."[10]

John H. Garvey, Dean of the Boston College Law School, said, "It is difficult to say in a few words what Father Drinan means to this institution. It is safe to say that his efforts as Dean forever changed how the Law School does business, taking us from a regional school to a nationally recognized leader in legal education. He did this without diminishing the essential core of what makes BC Law special, maintaining our commitment to educating the whole person—mind, body and spirit—while nourishing a community of learners intent on supporting one another in reaching their common goal. When we say that Boston College Law School educates “lawyers who lead good lives,” we need look no further than Father Drinan to understand what those words mean. We are forever in his debt."[11]

Following his death, many Georgetown Law School students and faculty shared their reminiscences of Father Drinan, and wrote of his influence on their lives, on Georgetown University's website.[10] Georgetown Law Magazine published a special tribute supplement in Spring 2007.[12]

[KoKo]

10. BTW..this was a truly tragic and strange description of Merton's Death...

And, strangeness and tragedy follow many who have influence in our world...but, this truly is...tragic.

But...had a meaning somewhere for his followers. As does much "strangeness" have connections that we don't fathom until some point way off in our futures.

Thanks for your post, btw.

-------------

Merton’s paper dealt with the role of the monk in a world of revolution …

“to experience the ground of his own being in such a way that he knows the secret of liberation and can somehow or other communicate it to others.”


Finishing the talk, Merton suggested putting off questions until evening, and concluded with the words:

“So I will disappear.”


He suggested everyone have a coke.

At around 3 PM Father Francois de Grunne, who had a room near Merton’s, heard a cry and what sounded like someone falling. He knocked on Merton’s door, but there was no response. At 4PM, Father de Grunne, worried that something was wrong, looked through the louvers in the upper part of the door and saw Merton lying on the terrazzo floor. A standing fan had fallen on top of him. The door was forced open.

There was the smell of burned flesh. Merton, clearly dead, was lying on his back with the five-foot fan diagonally across his body. The fan was still electrically volatile.

A long, raw third-degree burn about a hand’s width ran along the right side of Merton’s body almost to the groin. There were no marks on his hands. His face was bluish-red, eyes and mouth half open. There had been bleeding from the back of his head. [see footnote]

The priests gave Merton absolution and extreme unction.

Merton’s body was dressed and laid out, and the abbots attending the conference maintained a constant vigil for him.


“In death Father Louis’ face was set in a great and deep peace, and it was obvious that he had found Him Whom he had searched for so diligently.” (Letter from the abbots attending the Bangkok to the Abbot of Gethsemani)


The next day Merton’s body was taken to the United States Air Force Base in Bangkok and from there flown back to the United States in company with dead bodies of Americans killed in Vietnam.

An official declaration of Merton’s belongings came with his body and read:

1 Timex watch, $10.
1 Pair Dark Glasses in Tortoise frames, nil
1 Cistercian Leather Bound Breviary, nil
1 Rosary (broken), nil
1 Small Icon on Wood of Virgin and Child, nil

At the end of the funeral Mass at Gethsemani, there was a reading from The Seven Story Mountain, concluding with the book’s prophetic final sentence,

“That you may become the brother of God and learn to know the Christ of the burnt men.”


His brother monks buried Merton in their small cemetery next to the abbey church.

[sabrina 1]

21. He was an extremely evolved human being it seems. Most human beings never reach that phase of

evolvement. Naturally man made institutions, such as Churches and Governments cannot understand such people, and fear them actually.

Interesting that this Pope stated he was one of four people who influenced him. Kind of going against the grain by saying that it seems, but now he IS the 'grain', so it's as if he wants people to put some thought into this man's opinions. Very interesting really, thanks for noticing and pointing it out Koko.

[whatthehey]

4. The Baader-Meinhof syndrome strikes again. Just had a BT trivia question about him.

[KoKo]

6. lol's...I had to look that up!

It's a version of "Great Minds Think Alike" or that there's a "Meme" Phenomenon that kicks into gear when people of like thought waves connect with each other at the same moment. With a bit of "Woo" thrown in about how there may be "another dimension" that sensitives are clued into that surfaces in times of collective need. :chuckle


-----------------------


There's a Name for That: The Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon
When a thing you just found out about suddenly seems to crop up everywhere.

Pacific Standard Staff
Jul 22, 2013

Your friend told you about that obscure bluegrass-electro-punk band yesterday morning. That afternoon, you ran across one of their albums at a garage sale. Wait a minute—that’s them in that Doritos commercial, too! Coincidence ... or conspiracy? More likely, you’re experiencing “frequency illusion,” somewhat better known as the Baader-Meinhof phenomenon.

Stanford linguistics professor Arnold Zwicky coined the former term in 2006 to describe the syndrome in which a concept or thing you just found out about suddenly seems to crop up everywhere. It’s caused, he wrote, by two psychological processes. The first, selective attention, kicks in when you’re struck by a new word, thing, or idea; after that, you unconsciously keep an eye out for it, and as a result find it surprisingly often. The second process, confirmation bias, reassures you that each sighting is further proof of your impression that the thing has gained overnight omnipresence.

http://www.psmag.com/books-and-culture/theres-a-name-for-that-the-baader-meinhof-phenomenon-59670

[MADem]

17. When I hear "Baader-Meinhof'' I think "Gang."

I think "Red Army Faction" and I think guns and explosives and bank robberies and targeted killings and people stuffed in car trunks.

Those were some unsettling days, back then, too.

[rug]

23. And not a word about religion.

Some days I pine for the Cold War.

[MADem]

24. Be careful what you wish for...! We might be heading for

Cold War on steroids...with all the fun* of surrogate insurgencies, AND a heavy overlay of that religious strife as well!


*I'm using "fun" with and I'm sure you realize that. I have to put the little thing in here, though, because someone will drive by and insist I'm making fun of war and violence...!

[rug]

11. Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander

“In Louisville, at the corner of Fourth and Walnut, in the center of the shopping district, I was suddenly overwhelmed with the realization that I loved all these people, that they were mine and I theirs, that we could not be alien to one another even though we were total strangers. It was like waking from a dream of separateness, of spurious self-isolation in a special world. . . .

This sense of liberation from an illusory difference was such a relief and such a joy to me that I almost laughed out loud. . . . I have the immense joy of being man, a member of a race in which God Himself became incarnate. As if the sorrows and stupidities of the human condition could overwhelm me, now that I realize what we all are. And if only everybody could realize this! But it cannot be explained. There is no way of telling people that they are all walking around shining like the sun.

Then it was as if I suddenly saw the secret beauty of their hearts, the depths of their hearts where neither sin nor desire nor self-knowledge can reach, the core of their reality, the person that each one is in God’s eyes. If only they could all see themselves as they really are. If only we could see each other that way all the time. There would be no more war, no more hatred, no more cruelty, no more greed. . . . But this cannot be seen, only believed and ‘understood’ by a peculiar gift.”

― Thomas Merton, Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander

[KoKo]

12. And, this, from your quote from Merton:

Then it was as if I suddenly saw the secret beauty of their hearts, the depths of their hearts where neither sin nor desire nor self-knowledge can reach, the core of their reality, the person that each one is in God’s eyes. If only they could all see themselves as they really are. If only we could see each other that way all the time. There would be no more war, no more hatred, no more cruelty, no more greed. . . . But this cannot be seen, only believed and ‘understood’ by a peculiar gift.”

― Thomas Merton, Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander

Scottish Poet (have to look up original quote) but the other side of the conundrum:

"Oh but if we had the Gift to See Ourselves as Others See Us"--American Translation

The Original Quote, here:

“Oh wad some power the giftie gie us To see oursel's as others see us! It wad frae monie a blunder free us, And foolish notion”

Robert Burns quotes (Scottish national Poet of Scotland, who wrote lyrics and songs in the Scottish dialect

[rug]

13. That's a damn fine connection.

I must read more Robert Burns.

[KoKo]

15. I've got to dig out my old books of poems, myself for a re-read....

As I remember...he was a good read....but, its been awhile back even though certain quotes stick with me of those I read way back that come forward into memory these days in bits and pieces. They almost sound NEW sometimes....as circumstances from the past re-visit these days.

's

[panader0]

14. Great thread. Thanks KoKo.

[KoKo]

25. Thanks! will give it a kick to see if anyone else is interested.

Its always hard to know what people are interested in these days on DU that isn't "politics of the day."

[pnwmom]

22. Thanks, KoKo!

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

26. I remember reading some of Merton's writings in the late '60s.

He was well-known then in the antiwar movement. Interesting guy - I'd sort of forgotten about him but I'm glad the Pope mentioned him. Some very thought-provoking reading...

[mentalsolstice]

27. You shined a much needed light on Catholicism!

The Catholic hierarchy still has a way to go, but it's nowhere near as bad as many other Christian denominations when it comes to intolerance. The Church as a whole gets a bad rap in the media, probably because it's the oldest and thus has a storied history. There are so many heroes in Church history like Thomas Merton, Dorothy Day, and Oscar Romero....however, the haters are going to hate and overlook.

Before I write more, I need to preface that I'm not an active Catholic, because of the child sex scandals, women's and gay rights.

However, we're okay here in the States...yes there are those here who want to chip away at those rights, but it's not really just Catholics (in fact it's the evangelicals). The everyday Catholic....layperson, priest, or nun....are not trying to gun down women's and gay rights. It's the Bishops who are screwing us, and the Pope seems like he wants to shut them down, politically.

Pope Francis seems to be more concerned with poverty (something his predecessors got away from), and protecting the earth we live on. He can only do so much....and in emerging and third world countries he has to focus on those issues. Hell, in many of those countries he could ride up and down every street in his pope mobile throwing out condoms and IUDs and it wouldn't do a bit of good because of patriarchal attitudes that go back to the beginning of history.

So I'm going to give him credit for what he's trying to do....sorry if a gay person or woman in this privileged country is a little put out by his priorities....however, if the one child is better fed or gets the health care they need, I'm happy with that.