my old friend I never met
“O Peace, bless this mad place.”
- Thomas Merton (Jan. 31, 1915 - Dec. 10, 1968)
When I was a little kid, a certain name on my household bookshelves looked funny to me. The name was the same as my dad’s name except for one letter. And Thomas Morton had a lot of books by Thomas Merton. So I took notice.
Merton was, arguably, the most famous Catholic monk of the 20th century. But he was so much more than Catholic, so much more than monk. Which is why I continue to be fascinated and inspired by him.
Thomas Merton was a poet, a photographer, an artist, a social critic, an activist, a contemplative, and a jazz aficionado. He sipped beer and listened to records with his pals. He had a love affair with a nurse, grappling with his long-held vow of celibacy. He wrestled with the inherent contradiction of living as an isolated monastic while writing for a worldwide audience. He was a pioneer in the interfaith movement, a man the Dalai Lama called “brother.” He was a loud social critic who, many believe, was assassinated by the CIA.
It isn’t one thing in particular that draws me to Merton. It’s the all of him. And it’s his personal (often uncomfortable) journey toward making sense of the all of him. I’ve long been on that personal journey myself.
Recently, my own contradictions have been weighing heavy again. As in the past, I find that I am seeking out Tom like I would an old friend. I flip through books by and about him. I sift through notes I’ve taken at lectures. I reflect on my various pilgrimages to his important places. I pin a photo of him onto my bulletin board.
This morning, on Merton’s birthday, I had the opportunity to take a walk in the winter woods. Knowing of his daily walks in the woods around his hermitage, it brought me solace and delight to be enveloped by something so familiar to him.
Is it possible, I wonder, to have a friendship with someone I can never meet? Is it possible, I wonder, to feel understood by someone who lived before me? Today, the answer to these questions is Yes.
What a gift it is to contemplate this magnetic rapport.
Do you have an old friend whom you’ve never met?
Yes, yes, and yes. What a beautiful post. I think I may have more than one such friend, but CS Lewis is the one who comes to mind first. Happy Thomas Merton's birthday!