Thomas Merton: Insights and Interviews (2-volume set)

Product Description This book is really two books, two volumes, but neither book is like any other Merton book you may have read. Volume I, “Insights”, includes original works by Merton, only published in the Merton Annual.  Why do I dare say that it is not like anything you may have read by Merton? We are all familiar with his works written with a common theme such as Faith and Violence or New Seeds or Contemplations.  We are also familiar with his volumes of journals, grouped by time period, or his letters, grouped by addressee. “Insights” is different.  These works, which have only been published in the Merton Annual over a period of more than three decades, are a virtual “sampler” of Merton works. As David Odorisio points out in the introduction to “Insights”. “The essays included in Volume One serve as a kind of roving overview of Merton’s corpus filling in gaps and lacunae here and there, but also noting the periodic lapses or historical ‘intervals’ that appear in between each essay.” They show his progress as a writer from: – a teenager in England – through early adulthood after college at Columbia – through that brief period where he was on the threshold to answering his vocation as a Catholic priest – as a Novice Master writing pamphlets for his charges – in his earlier more typical “orthodox” writings in the 1950’s – to the beginnings of his writing on social issues in the early 1960’s – to his writings on Eastern religions towards the end of his life The gathering of these writings under one cover shows not only the progress and fluidity in his writing style, but also the diversity of works that he was capable of penning. Volume II, “Interviews”, originated by Victor Kramer, Merton scholar and founding editor of the Merton Annual, as an “oral history.” The second volume contains interviews with those who knew Merton or were instrumental in establishing his legacy.   He and several other Merton scholars interviewed individuals who knew Merton personally or who played significant roles in the years following his death in establishing his legacy.  Once again, these interviews were, with few exceptions, only published in the Merton Annual and their gathering together under one cover serves to be a “mind-expanding” experience not only for Merton devotees but for the first-time reader of Merton. It is rare for the reader to peek behind the name of the author and see his personal life, motivations, both conventional and not. Those readers who are familiar with Merton works, have already had such a peak from himself in his journals, and to some extent by others in his letters.  But the interviews specifically focus on giving us a thorough understanding of the man, Father Louis, through the eyes of those who talked and/or corresponded with him, who lived with him, who visited with him, who prayed or studied with him, and may have even shared a beer and some barbecue with him.  The personal insights are sharp, insightful, and touching once we see Merton through the eyes of these people, it only increases our appetite to read more of his writings. Thomas Merton Quotes from these volumes: “Is dedicated life cold storage?  Is a dedicated woman one who has been placed in cold storage, who has been place out of circulation, who has been removed from life, who has been frozen?…My idea of dedication implies that one has one initial conversion at the beginning of religious life and then no other, except the conversions that are pre-determined, predictable and set up according to the pattern of the annual retreat—the retreat master comes and defines for you your annual conversion which is simply a return to the original conversion.” – Thomas Merton, “Comments on the Religious Life today” “It is more important to have one convent with five people in it who are alive than to have a whole country of convents with people who are half dead or live a kind of living death which can sometimes happen in religion.” – Thomas Merton, “Comments on the Religious Life today” “Jesus stood entirely outside of all Jewish politics, because his Kingdom was not of this world. But his actions could be twisted to look like political revolutionism. And yet he was a “freedom fighter” in a different way. His death and resurrection were the culminating battle in his fight to liberate us from all forms of tyranny, all forms of domination by anything or anyone except the Spirit, the Law of Love, the ‘purpose and grace’ of God. ” – Thomas Merton, ” “He is Risen” “As Cardinal Newman so rightly said, the greatest victories of the Church were all won before Constantine, in the days when there were no Christian armies and when the true Christian soldier was the martyr, whose witness to Christ was nonviolent. It was the martyrs who conquered Rome for Christ with a conquest that has been stable for twenty centuries. How long were the crusaders able to hold Jerusalem?” – Thomas Merton, “Christian Perspectives in World Crisis” TABLES OF CONTENTS Volume 1 Table of Contents Preface Acknowledgements, Appreciations, and Copyright An Introduction in Intervals: Insights from The Merton Annual (1988-2022) By David Odorisio Part One – Pre-Monastic Writings On Remembering Monsieur Delmas Edited with an Introduction by Patrick F. O’Connell The Black Sheep Forward by Paul M. Pearson The Man in the Sycamore Tree: A Fragment of an Early Novel Editor’s Note by Patrick Hart, O.C.S.O. Letters to Pat Edited with an Introduction by Paul M. Pearson Application for Conscientious Objector Status – March 1941 Introduction by Jim Forest Vocation to the Lay Apostolate Editor’s Note by Patrick F. O’Connell Part Two – Monastic Matters The School of the Spirit Foreword by Patrick Hart, O.C.S.O. Monastic Courtesy Editor’s Note by Patrick Hart, O.C.S.O. A Balanced Life of Prayer Foreword by Patrick Hart, O.C.S.O. Variant Drafts of The Sign of Jonas Edited by Jonathan Montaldo “The Monk and Sacred Art” and “Art and Worship” Editorial Note by Glenn Crider and Victor A. Kramer The Neurotic Personality in the Monastic Life Editor’s Note by Patrick Hart, O.C.S.O. “A Quite Exceptional Convent”: The Regina Laudis Correspondence Edited with an Introduction by Patrick F. O’Connell Thomas Merton and Patrick Hart: Correspondence (1964-1968) Edited with an Introduction by Patrick F. O’Connell Part Three – Correspondence and Commentary Do I Want a Small Painting: Ad Reinhardt Correspondence Introduction and Commentary by Roger Lipsey The Context of Thomas Merton’s Letter Concerning “The Jesus Prayer’’ Introduction by Thomas Francis Smith Notes after First Visit and Correspondence 1962-1968 Editor’s Note By Douglas V. Steere “Three Prayers” Written for Frank Kacmarcik Some Points from the Birmingham Non-Violence Movement About Contemplative Life Today An Editorial Note by Glenn Crider and Victor Kramer Aesthetic and Contemplative Experience – James Joyce Transcribed with an Introduction by Paul M. Pearson Comments about the Religious Life Today Editor’s Note by Jane Marie Richardson Prayer and Identity Commentary by Glenn Crider He Is Risen Two Conferences on Prayer: India 1968 “The Pope of the Virgin Mary” and Other Uncollected Marian Writings Introduction by Patrick F. O’Connell 15: Christian Perspectives in World Crisis Editorial Note by Patricia A. Burton Answers For Hernan Lavin Cerda: On War, [etc.] Editor’s Note by Patrick Hart, O.C.S.O. Preface to Don Denys Rutledge’s In Search of a Yogi  The Zen Insight of Shen Hui Editor’s Note by Patrick Hart, O.C.S.O. Volume 2 Table of Contents Preface Acknowledgments, Appreciations, and Copyright An Introduction in Intervals, Part Two: Interviews from The Merton Annual (1988–2022) By David M. Odorisio Part One – Gethsemani Encounters “A Dedication to Prayer and a Dedication to Humanity” An Interview about Thomas Merton with James Conner, O.C.S.O. Merton’s Contributions as Teacher, Writer and Community Member An Interview with Abbot Flavian Burns, O.C.S.O. “Truly Seeking God … in Christ” An Interview with Chrysogonus Waddell, O.C.S.O. Merton’s Vocation as Monastic & Writer An Interview with Abbot John Eudes Bamberger, O.C.S.O. Merton’s Quiet Influence An Interview with Brother Frederic Collins, O.C.S.O. “The Great Honesty”: Remembering Thomas Merton An Interview with Abbot Timothy Kelly, O.C.S.O. “Aware and Awake and Alive” An Interview with Brother Paul Quenon, O.C.S.O. Looking Back to Merton An Interview with Matthew Kelty, O.C.S.O. Part Two – Interviews with Other Religious Thomas Merton: A Monk Who “Succeeded” An Interview with Dom M. Laurence Bourget, O.C.S.O. “A Journey into Wholeness” An Interview with Myriam Dardenne, O.C.S.O. From Monastic Studies to Monastic Renewal An Interview with Brendan Collins “Unadorned Ideal” An Interview in Two Parts with Methodius Telnack, O.C.S.O. Daughter of Carmel; Son of Cîteaux: A Friendship Endures An Interview about Thomas Merton with Angela Collins, O.C.D. Growing into Responsibility An Interview with Mary Luke Tobin, S.L. Life through the Lens of Inner and Outer Freedom An Interview with Jane Marie Richardson, S.L. An Interview with Fr. Kilian McDonnell, O.S.B.       An Interview with Fr. Raymond Pedrizetti, O.S.B.       A Single Sacred Community An Interview with Charles Brandt Part Three – Interviews with Friends and Scholars Cultivating a Contemplative Lifestyle An Interview with James Finley Remarks Following a 2004 Poetry Reading An Interview with Ernesto Cardenal Transcript of the Question and Answer Session for the Poetry Reading of Ernesto Cardenal “Not Himself, but a Direction” An Interview with John H. (Jack) Ford “The Climate of Humor and Freedom” An Interview with Ron Seitz An Interview with James Laughlin about Thomas Merton An Interview with Lawrence Ferlinghetti about Thomas Merton An Interview with Walker Percy about Thomas Merton An Interview with W. H. (Ping) Ferry about Thomas Merton Action at the Center An Interview with W. H. (“Ping”) Ferry “A Very Disciplined Person” An Interview with Canon A. M. Allchin A Conversation with Dr. Hildegard Goss-Mayr about Thomas Merton An Interview about Thomas Merton with Dr. Martin E. Marty Spirituality, Scholarship and Biography An Interview with Anthony T. Padovano From Faith to Joy: Studying the Church and Thomas Merton An Interview with William H. Shannon Living and Learning with Merton for Decades An Interview with Victor A. Kramer Reviews “For almost forty years The Merton Annual has brought together seminal oral history interviews with people who knew Merton along with obscure writings by Merton himself. This volume is a sumptuous banquet bringing together the highlights of this important scholarship and providing readers with firsthand accounts of Merton from among his fellow monks, close friends, and other key figures, along with a broad range of Merton’s little-known, largely previously unpublished, works.” Paul M. Pearson, Director, Thomas Merton Center These two volumes, judiciously selected from The Merton Annual (1988-2022) primarily by the esteemed Victor Kramer, offer revealing personal and scholarly encounters with Thomas Merton, writer, monk and cosmologist. Scholars and readers alike will both prize and enjoy the collections in Insights and Interviews; they are plumb lines of received wisdom that will inform new and next perspectives on the Merton canon. Lynn R. Szabo, Merton scholar and Professor Emerita, Trinity Western University, Canada, Ed. In The Dark Before Dawn: New and Selected Poems of Thomas Merton (2005) Merton readers know well the sense of meeting Thomas Merton again as if for the first time. This two-volume treasure invites us to hear Merton – first in his voice and then through the words of those who knew him well. The essays in Vol. 1 enrich our understanding of Merton’s thinking on a host of perennial and timely concerns – spiritual, monastic, aesthetic, moral. The interviews in Vol.2, replete with stories and reminiscences, humorous anecdotes, and thoughtful reflections of Merton’s confreres, friends, and scholars, invite us to sit in on conversations that illuminate the person and spirit of Thomas Merton himself – the monk, the writer, the friend, the spiritual guide, the prophet – in all his mysterious complexity. Nothing short of a treasure trove! Christine M. Bochen, professor emerita of religious studies at Nazareth College, Rochester, New York and a founding member and past president of the International Thomas Merton Society, author and co-author of numerous books about Thomas Merton The collection of essays and interviews, first published in The Merton Annual, demonstrate the development of Merton’s thought and the breadth of his interest. Written over the course of three decades, the pieces – ranging from early autobiographical pieces to reflections on monastic life, contemplation, and prayer, to sacred art and the vocation of artist, to urgent social issues posed by violence, war, and technology – weave together the monastic, the spiritual, the aesthetic, and ethical concerns that inform Merton’s legacy. The stories and reminiscences, the humorous anecdotes, the thoughtful reflections of Merton’s confreres, friends, and scholars invite us to sit in on conversations that illuminate the person and spirit of Thomas Merton himself – the monk, the writer, the friend, the spiritual guide, the prophet. These volumes are treasure trove! And must- reads!