This is the third in a seven-volume series of Thomas Merton's journals. It covers the years 1952-1960, a period when this creative Trappist was serving as a novice master and roiling under the criticism of his superiors. Although Merton managed to write ten books during this period, his spirituality was fed by diverse streams including Russian literature, the Shakers, Eastern Orthodoxy, Zen Buddhism, Latin American theologians and poets, and the sayings of the Desert Fathers.
The author's quest for solitude is matched by his ability to read the natural world for signs of God. Best of all is Merton's imaginative purview: "I wonder if it is a sin against poverty to read the poems of St. John Perse. They are magnificent. Immensely rich. To read such poems is to be a millionaire, to live in splendor. Your heart becomes a palace, full of all that is fine in the world." The riches in this book also make the reader feel wealthy inside.
