My selection criteria was limited to the two shelves that have the grown ups books, but not the counseling books. I flipped a coin to decide which shelf and then threw the coin at the shelf. The book it hit was:
Unfortunately, I havent read that book. :( But two doors down is the one Thomas Merton book i have read, the one that got me to recommend him to my husband, who is the Merton reader around here.
I may be the only teenage girl in history to take Seven Story Mountain as a beach read on a high school spring break trip. Yeah, I was that kind of girl.
Its an autobiography of a life that spanned continents, religions and for someone who took a vocation of keeping to himself, he was very connected with many great thinkers of his time.
Thomas Merton is truly a fascinating person. Full of contradictions and a continuous arc of growth and discovery in his life. We have visited the Abbey of Gethsemane several times. A little oasis of quiet amidst the farms.
Maybe not a beach read, but definitely thought provoking and inspiring. Below is the famous prayer by Merton, from Thoughts in Solitude. (Hey, I have read that one too!)
“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 know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that 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 will I 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 perils alone.”― Thomas Merton, Thoughts in Solitude
Great stuff! I'm so glad you played along.
ReplyDeleteYou have made me want to learn more about Thomas Merton :-)
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