Thomas Merton, Contemplative Critic

Henri Nouwen is internationally acclaimed for his spiritual writings and the author of numerous bestselling works. He is a priest in the order known as L'Arche ministry. Like those before him who have written books on Merton, Nouwen expresses a profound appreciation and respect for him in this book. Though he points out he had only met Thomas Merton once down at the Abbey of Gethsemani in Kentucky, years after his works and spiritual guidance sank their way deep into his own path. Like so many who "never knew" Thomas Merton, when news came through that he had died in Bangkok, many were left feeling as though they had just lost a close personal friend. And indeed they had. For Merton was looked at as the "father" of countless Christians growing up in an era that needed so direly a voice such as his to be heard. A Christian guru you may as well call him. A person who made Christianity so much more than the bland Mass one encountered every Sunday, offering the reader a spiritual awe not often seen in the realm of "spiritual writings." That, of course, was due to Merton's dedication to contemplative prayer and monastic living, the two components which gave him an ease and clarity we see come through in all his works.The book starts of with the basic and brief biography of Merton, for new readers who might be unfamiliar with his life and works. Then the book delves deep within the contemplative thoughts and writings of Thomas Merton, of course portrayed in the intuitive eyes of Henri Nouwen. Then we get into the breadth of Merton's actual works. These range from secular journal entries to works previously published in the public domain. If you are a person looking for a really good introduction into the life, thought, and works of Thomas Merton this book is indubitably for you. Heck, it's for those who know as much as they could strive to know of Merton, as well! Can we ever really get enough of him? My sense is that in the centuries to come, Merton will be the Christian writer from the 20th century still being studied and meditated upon by those of the future. That is, if there is much of one. I implore you to buy this book, it's a rich introduction preparing you for some of his most complex texts.

My favorite book always seem to be the one I'm reading now. That being the case, the book I'm reading currently is "Thomas Merton: Contemplative Critic" by Henri Nouwen. The book has a double appeal for me because after Merton, Nouwen is one of my favorite spiritual writers. In this book Nouwen follows Merton's early inner struggle for meaning and how it lead him to the monastery and away from the world. He traces Merton's spiritual journey in the monastery as he moves toward greater depths of solitude. In the heart of this solitude Merton discovers the world he left behind, only this time he sees it with eyes of compassion rather than as an object of fear or rejection. It is his compassionate rediscovery of the world that moves Merton to become an insightful and powerful critic of the social injustice he found, as well as a catalyst for the ferment of the sixties that resulted in the civil rights and anti-war movement. His perspective in all of this was not just on the immediate wrongs that were being done in the world but on the illusions that society was buying into that produced racial injustice and reliance on violence as a primary tool of social policy.Nouwen is not writing about Merton just as a social critic. He was that and to deny that part of Merton is to miss a good part of who he was. Rather, Nouwen tries to understand the spiritual developments within Merton that produced the insightful social critic. He examines the influence of Taoist and Zen thought on Merton, as well as the dark night of the soul that Merton struggled through in the fifties. He sees the monastery itself as a primary factor in Merton's spiritual development. Nouwen observes, "Merton saw his monastery not only as a haven, where men sought to purify themselves so as to know God, but also as a center of spiritual action, from which he was to unmask the illusions of this world in a challenging way. The more he discovered the concrete demands of living, the less he emphasized living to purify himself."The book was originally published in 1972 and reprinted in 1981. It is currently available through Liguori/Triumph Publications.