What I Am Living For: Lessons from the Life and Writings of Thomas Merton

by Jon M. Sweeney (Editor), James Martin, Robert Ellsberg, Daniel P. Horan O.F.M., Kaya Oakes

Overview

"If you want to identify me, ask me not where I live, or what I like to eat, or how I comb my hair, but ask me what I am living for, in detail, and ask me what I think is keeping me from living fully for the thing I want to live for."—Thomas Merton

Some of today's most popular spiritual writers—including Rev. James Martin, S.J.; Bishop Robert Barron; Robert Ellsberg; Rev. Daniel P. Horan, O.F.M.; and Kaya Oakes—explore the meaning of life and what we live for using Thomas Merton's life and writings as a guide.

In his address before the US Congress, Pope Francis praised Merton as one of four exemplary Americans. This was no surprise to the thousands who already know and appreciate the twentieth-century monk, but there were many listening that day who still have no idea who Merton is.

What I Am Living For offers readers new to Merton, as well as longtime enthusiasts, an opportunity to see how the influential twentieth-century monk and writer continues to encourage the awakening of faith in the twenty-first century.

The book is in two parts. Each contributor to part one focuses on an aspect of the spiritual life that is of vital importance today and on which Merton made a profound impact. These include:

• Martin—Finding who God intends you to be
• Ellsberg—The spiritual need for solitude and stability
• Oakes—The importance of coming to terms with our sexuality, whether married, single, or celibate
• Horan—The importance of dialogue with God, culture, society, and people of other faiths

Part two features shorter, often more personal reflections on the future of faith, the life and teachings of Merton, and what he still says to anyone who seeks a relationship with God.

Contributors include such well-known writers as Barron; Sue Monk Kidd; Pico Iyer; Paula Huston; Ilia Delio, O.F.M.;  Paul Quenon, O.C.S.O.; and Sylvia Boorstein.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781594717413
Publisher:	Ave Maria Press
Publication date:	03/16/2018
Pages:	224
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x (d)

About the Author

Jon M. Sweeney is an independent scholar and one of religion’s most respected writers. His work has been hailed by everyone from PBS and James Martin, S.J., to Fox News and Dan Savage. He’s been interviewed on CBS Saturday Morning, Fox News, CBS-TV Chicago, Religion and Ethics Newsweekly, and on the popular program Chicago Tonight. Several of his books have become Book-of-the-Month Club and Quality Paperback Book Club selections. His popular medieval history, The Pope Who Quit, was published by Image/Random House and optioned by HBO. It was a selection of the History Book Club and received a starred review in Booklist. His book, When Saint Francis Saved the Church, received a 2015 award for excellence in history from the Catholic Press Association.His other works include The Enthusiast, The Complete Francis of Assisi, and The St. Francis Prayer Book. He was the editor of A Course in Christian Mysticism by Thomas Merton. Sweeney writes regularly for America and The Tablet, and is the publisher and editor-in-chief at Paraclete Press. He lives with his wife and two daughters in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Rev. James Martin, S.J., is a Jesuit priest, author, and editor-at-large at America magazine.

Robert Ellsberg is the editor-in-chief and publisher of Orbis Books. He previously served as managing editor of The Catholic Worker.

Daniel P. Horan, O.F.M., is director of the Center for Spirituality and professor of philosophy, religious studies, and theology at Saint Mary’s College. He previously served as the Duns Scotus professor of spirituality at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago. He is a columnist for National Catholic Reporter and the author of thirteen books, including A White Catholic’s Guide to Racism and Privilege, The Franciscan Heart of Thomas Merton and Catholicity and Emerging Personhood, which received a 2020 Excellence in Publishing Award from the Association of Catholic Publishers.

Horan regularly lectures around the United States and abroad and serves on a number of university, academic, and publication editorial boards, including the St. Bonaventure University Board of Trustees, the Franciscan School of Theology Board of Regents, and the Board of Directors of the International Thomas Merton Society. He is cohost of The Francis Effect

Table of Contents

Chronology of Merton's Life and World Events (1915-1968) ix

Abbreviations xv

Part I Lessons from the Life and Teachings of Thomas Merton

1 Becoming Who We Are James Martin, S.J. 3

2 Meeting Thomas Merton for the First Time Mary Neill, O.P. 13

3 On Spiritual Exploration, Robert Ellsberg 29

4 How to Be a Friend Gregory K. Hillis 43

5 Our Expanded Religious and Spiritual Horizons Kevin Hunt, O.C.S.O. Sensei 57

6 What It Means to Be a Person of Dialogue Daniel P. Horan, O.F.M. 71

7 How We Understand Our Sexual Lives Kaya Oakes 89

Part II Life Lessons in the Light of Merton

1 On the Hundredth Anniversary of Thomas Merton's Birth Bishop Robert Barron 101

2 How Thomas Merton and the Music of Keith Jarrett Changed My Life Kevin Burns 105

3 Anatomy of a Conversion Paula Huston 111

4 Conversion in Morningside Heights Rabbi Phil Miller 119

5 Merton's Death as Seen from the Home Grounds Br. Paul Quenon, O.C.S.O. 125

6 The Restless, Furious, Quietly Abiding Friend of Us All Pico Iyer 133

7 Thomas Merton and the Realization of Us Sylvia Boorstein 139

8 Merton on the Spiritual Promise of Interreligious Dialogue Acharya Judith Simmer-Brown 143

9 The Dazzling Light Within Ilia Delio, O.S.F. 151

10 False Self, True Self: Finding the Real Me Sue Monk Kidd 159

11 Thomas Merton Is a Dangerous Fellow Timothy McCormick 165

12 Merton's Love Affair with the Unknown Fr. John-Julian, O.J.N. 171

13 Staunch Friendship for the Love of God Rabbi David Zaslow 177

Notes 183

Selected Works of Thomas Merton Published since 1944 189

The Contributors 195

Editorial Reviews

01/08/2018
Timed to coincide with the 50th anniversary of Trappist monk Thomas Merton’s death, this compilation of essays edited by Sweeney (A Course on Christian Mysticism) provides a space for modern Christian writers to reflect on the ways Merton’s life and writings have influenced their spiritual thinking. Merton, a Catholic writer, poet, peace activist, and commentator on comparative religions, exhibited a diversity of interests that is reflected in the breadth of contributions here. Jesuit priest and bestselling author James Martin provides a piece on learning one’s true vocation and speaks eloquently on his transition from corporate manager to Jesuit novitiate. Novelist Sue Monk Kidd relates a visit to Merton’s hermitage near the Abbey of Gethsemani in Kentucky that helped shape her understanding of self. Many of the writers list Merton’s 1948 autobiography The Seven Storey Mountain as an influence when deciding to write about their spiritual inner life and discuss topics such as spiritual identity, sexual relationships, interfaith dialogue, and expansive (as opposed to constrictive) theology. A time line of Merton’s life and world events that happened during his life (1915–1968) is also helpfully included in Sweeney’s well-rounded collection. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

"An extraordinary gathering of diverse voices vividly articulates Merton's deep impact on a generation of honorable readers. Gleaning profound spiritual life lessons from the monk's art of confession and witness, these reflections by contemplative educators—writing beautifully here out of the roots of their own lives—perfectly commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the death of a master teacher." --Jonathan Montaldo, Editor of The Intimate Merton

"Thomas Merton lovers, rejoice: this collection is a welcome addition to your library, with essays on Merton that are by turns inspiring, enlightening, challenging, eloquent, and bracing. I hope and pray this will introduce a new generation of readers to a man who has influenced countless believers (including this one!). What I Am Living For reminds us why Thomas Merton remains one of the most influential and compelling spiritual writers of the twentieth century—and why he has much to say to readers in the twenty-first." --Deacon Greg Kandra, Blogger and journalist at Aleteia

"Thomas Merton's writings were one of the main reasons I left a job at General Electric and entered the Jesuit order in the late 1980s. His simple concept of the true self—the person we are before God and the person we are meant to be—was a critical insight in my spiritual life." --Rev. James Martin, S.J.

"These essays by contemporary spiritual teachers from Buddhist, Jewish, and Christian traditions reflect on the continuing influence of Merton’s life and writing. New and experienced readers of Merton will find the reflections moving and Merton’s views classically pertinent." --Bonnie Thurston, Founding member and past president of the International Thomas Merton Society

From the Publisher