Michael W. Higgins is a distinguished scholar, a radio documentarian for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, and author of many books. In this handy and helpful overview of the life and work of Thomas Merton (1915-1968), he focuses on the Renaissance Man as a poet, a contemplative, a critic, a scholar, a seeker who expanded the nature of the religious imagination, a zealous pilgrim to the Far East, and an icon of wholeness.
Years after his death, this Trappist monk's questing spirit has wide appeal in these times of religious diversity and interspirituality. Merton's vow of silence and his experiences as a hermit yearning for solitude has reached many who desire a more contemplative life. Yet at the same time, this mystic fused his contemplative side with social action. His diaries are filled with surprising insights, flashing epiphanies, and empathetic self-disclosures.
Higgins sees similarities between Merton and Jewish scholar Abraham Joshua Heschel: their antiwar stands, their mysticism, their respect for the riches of the imagination, and their mutual belief in prayer as a major source of faith and meaning. Merton's exposure and love of Zen enabled him to appreciate his trip to Asia and its attendant realizations. Higgins concludes:
"I felt once more the utter tenderness, the infinitude of a life lived with courage and an encompassing wholeness — these are my devoted memories of Thomas Merton, whose redemptive holiness is a light to all of us who knew him and will continue to shine in the hearts of people who will know him as the ages pass."
