A Vow of Conversation: Journals, 1964-1965 [Paperback]

Thomas Merton (Author), Naomi Burton Stone (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1, 1999

The journal kept by Merton during 1964 and 1965, containing his daily meditations during the crucial and difficult period in which the permission he had awaited so long -- to live alone in his hermitage -- was finally given. These pages reveal his reflections as a hermit on the joys and dangers of a life of solitude in the woods.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

During the years 1964-65, Merton sought, and was finally given, permission to live alone in his hermitage at the Abbey of Gethsemani. These years were criticalhe had to balance commitment to the demands of the monastic community with the call to a more solitary lifeand the writing from that time is consequently charged with disappointments and uncertainties, as well as quiet reflection and humor. Merton's frustration with church complacency and the censorship of his ideas is evident, a factor that probably hindered publication of this journal until now. But he also records musings, dreams, the visits of special friends. A very personal piece of writing blending "heavenliness and anguish," wherein unfolds its special appeal. Carol J. Lichtenberg, Washington State Univ. Lib., Pullman
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (December 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0374526486
• ISBN-13: 978-0374526481
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,049,745 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Thomas Merton (1915-1968) is arguably the most influential American Catholic author of the twentieth century. His autobiography, The Seven Storey Mountain, has millions of copies and has been translated into over fifteen languages. He wrote over sixty other books and hundreds of poems and articles on topics ranging from monastic spirituality to civil rights, nonviolence, and the nuclear arms race.

After a rambunctious youth and adolescence, Merton converted to Roman Catholicism and entered the Abbey of Gethsemani, a community of monks belonging to the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance (Trappists), the most ascetic Roman Catholic monastic order.

The twenty-seven years he spent in Gethsemani brought about profound changes in his self-understanding. This ongoing conversion impelled him into the political arena, where he became, according to Daniel Berrigan, the conscience of the peace movement of the 1960's. Referring to race and peace as the two most urgent issues of our time, Merton was a strong supporter of the nonviolent civil rights movement, which he called "certainly the greatest example of Christian faith in action in the social history of the United States." For his social activism Merton endured severe criticism, from Catholics and non-Catholics alike, who assailed his political writings as unbecoming of a monk.

During his last years, he became deeply interested in Asian religions, particularly Zen Buddhism, and in promoting East-West dialogue. After several meetings with Merton during the American monk's trip to the Far East in 1968, the Dali Lama praised him as having a more profound understanding of Buddhism than any other Christian he had known. It was during this trip to a conference on East-West monastic dialogue that Merton died, in Bangkok on December 10, 1968, the victim of an accidental electrocution. The date marked the twenty-seventh anniversary of his entrance to Gethsemani.