On Retreat with Thomas Merton

I read this book while on retreat at the Abbey of Gethsemani, on a snowy January afternoon. This was an excellent selection to read there, as, of course, this was the home of Thomas Merton and also where the writer of this book was on retreat when he wrote this. An added plus was that the writer's retreat was also during the winter so this reader felt a certain kinship with him knowing he too had experienced the beautiful and complex winter landscape, of both the abbey grounds and one's soul. This is a journal of his retreat experience and is an interesting juxtaposition of the everyday matters of a retreat against the deeper spiritual ponderings one is allowed during the retreat. For instance the reader enjoys the descriptions of the author's feeding the birds and building fires, while also gleaning ideas for her own meditations. There are many good photographs included in this book, including some of Merton'a hermitage where the writer was privileged to take his retreat. This is an area off limits to general retreatants, but it felt like a good fit to be able to look at those pictures and read these words and realize one was, at least, on the same grounds as Merton and the writer.