The Trappist monk Thomas Merton used silence as a seedbed for contemplation, reverence, intercession for others, self-observation, personal renewal, and drawing near to God. It was a source of nurturing for him.
Jonathan Montaldo, director of the Thomas Merton Center at Bellarmine University in Louisville, Kentucky, has assembled this stirring collection of prayers and drawings from the monk's poetry, journals, letters, and books. At one point in his life, Merton wrote: "The only unhappiness is not to love God."
On these pages, the reader will discover a large crosscut of Merton's Zen-like drawings of monks, nuns, heads of Christ, and other spiritual subjects done mainly in the 1950s. There is a playfulness here that conveys the artist's pleasure in imagination, observation, and locating glimpses of God in the midst of life around him.
The prayers reflect Merton's yearning for connection with God, his openness to others, his respect for the mysteries of life, his attentiveness to the present moment, and his gratitude for the abundant graces abounding in his days. At one point, Merton notes: "My God, I pray better to you by breathing, I pray better to you by walking than by talking." Walk with Merton on these pages and he'll talk to you about his dialogue with the Holy One.
