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Thomas Merton and the Death of Martin Luther King, Jr

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Thomas Merton and the Death of Martin Luther King, Jr Crisis of Faith: Thomas Merton and the Death of Martin Luther King, Jr. William Apel “These have been terrible days for everyone, and God alone knows what is to come.” Letter to June Yungblut, April 9, 19681 “Beloved, let us love one another for love is of God and everyone that loves is of God and everyone that loves is born of God and knows God.” 1 John 4:7 Introduction The assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. on April 4, 1968 was devastat- ing to thousands of his supporters, and Thomas Merton was no exception. In the short run, King’s death sent Merton into a downward spiral that inwardly resulted in a crisis of faith. He mentioned this to no one. We would, in fact, not know of Merton’s spiritual crisis had it not been for one solitary entry into his personal journal. The focus of this essay concerns this often-overlooked crisis. Although short-lived, its resolution reaffirms a theology of love that had been at the center of Merton’s life, and of Dr. King’s life too. I will first examine Merton’s crisis of faith beginning with the aforementioned journal entry, then explore its resolution through an inquiry into the exchange of letters between Merton and June Yungblut in the week following Dr. King’s death; finally, I will expand on Merton’s and King’s understanding of love, an understanding that still challenges us today. Journal In his April 6 journal entry, only two days after King’s murder, Merton found himself in a deeply discouraged state of mind. He confessed to himself that Dr. King’s death “finally confirmed all the apprehensions – the feeling that 1968 is a beast of a year.”2 Merton raises a number of 1. Thomas Merton, The Hidden Ground of Love: Letters on Religious Experience and Social Concerns, ed. William H. Shannon (New York: Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 1985) 645; subsequent references will be cited as “HGL” parenthetically in the text. 2. Thomas Merton, The Other Side of the Mountain: The End of the Journey. Journals, 67 0000 Complete 1-248 .indd 67 1/28/19 5:23 PM 68 The Merton Annual 31 (2018) questions stemming from his reaction to King’s murder. There are two questions, however, that cut to the heart of his faith and life-commitments. In all candor and with a penetrating honesty, he asks, “Is the Christian message of love a pitiful delusion? Or must one just ‘love’ in an impos- sible situation?” (OSM 78). All the violence and hatred in the world had reached a tipping point for Merton and spilled over with King’s brutal death. Was there any word the Christian message could speak that would adequately address the present situation, or would all words express only “a pitiful delusion”? Or maybe, worse yet, was any expression of love merely a fallback position? Maybe the word “love” would be no more than a pious platitude? Such was Merton’s inner state of mind and spirit at that time. Letters Thomas Merton and his Quaker friend and kindred spirit June Yungblut carried on a lively and sustained correspondence in the years 1967 and 1968 covering a range of topics – from their lives as writers to their witness for peace and justice.3 However, for the purposes of this article, I focus on an exchange of letters that took place during the week following Dr. King’s assassination on April 4, 1968. In this particular correspondence, Merton can be seen giving and receiving love and learning from the love of others. This interaction of love became the way in which he would work through his crisis of faith. Love in action demonstrated for Merton that love is quite real and that the Christian message of love is not “a pitiful delusion.” Merton’s experience underscores the truth that express- ing love in troubled times is not the only recourse left for someone in despair; rather, it is the primary thing to do. Merton was reminded at that time that love is a forceful and often redemptive action. How did Merton in April of 1968 find this renewed understanding of the saving power of love? A careful examination of both the texts and relevant context of the Merton-Yungblut letters of that week will reveal some answers. It is crucial to know a little more about June Yungblut. In 1968, she and her husband John were co-directors of the Quaker House in Atlanta, Georgia. They were both active in Dr. King’s movement for racial equal- vol. 7: 1967-1968, ed. Patrick Hart (San Francisco: HarperCollins, 1998) 78 [4/6/1968]; subsequent references will be cited as “OSM” parenthetically in the text. (This was said even before his Aunt Kit’s drowning in a ferryboat off the coast of New Zealand four days later [see OSM 84-85] and before the assassination of Senator Robert Kennedy in June [see OSM 126-27]). 3. See William Apel, Signs of Peace: The Interfaith Letters of Thomas Merton (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 2006) 143-60. 0000 Complete 1-248 .indd 68 1/28/19 5:23 PM Apel Crisis of Faith 69 ity and justice. June was good friends with Coretta Scott King and close to the entire King family. John Yungblut was closer to Martin Luther King than to anyone else in the King family. Based on their collective understanding of the family, John and June, along with others active in the movement, thought that Dr. King needed some time apart from all the demands of his activism and the hectic schedule he kept. The Yungbluts conferred with Merton, and together they all agreed that King should experience a personal retreat at Gethsemani – Merton’s monastery in the rolling hills of Kentucky. On March 12, June Yungblut wrote to Merton with good news. It looked like the retreat was going to happen. She told her Trappist friend, “Coretta has your dates [suggested retreat dates] and will nail Martin down.”4 But sadly the retreat never happened. Thomas Merton and Martin Luther King never met. Instead, on April 5, the day after King’s assassi- nation, Merton wrote Yungblut a very somber letter. Merton to Yungblut, April 5 Merton’s April 5 letter was brief and to the point. He tells her, “This all means something more serious than we can imagine” (HGL 644). He is not hesitant to admit that he was afraid of where the assassination might lead the nation. He writes of his love and admiration for Dr. King: “he, at any rate, had done all that any man can do. It will be to his glory” (HGL 645). Then, in the most direct way possible, he asks, “Could you please pass on the enclosed note to Mrs. King?” (HGL 645). Understanding just how comforting a note from Merton would be, Yungblut would surely be willing to share. In his note to Coretta Scott King, Merton made clear that he was not writing as the famous author Thomas Merton. Rather, he was writing as a monk dedicated to a life of prayer and as a priest who wanted to offer pastoral support and comfort. Merton writes from deep within his own grieving spirit. In his note, he speaks from spirit to spirit, loving heart to loving heart. The communication is not lengthy, but it is pure Merton. Even though the note is of a highly personal nature, a greater love that transcends the particular situation shines through. This love is the same love that Jesus taught and lived. Merton’s words deserve repeating here: “Let me only say how deeply I share your personal grief as well as the shock which pervades the whole nation. He has done the greatest thing anyone can do. In imitation of his Master he has laid down his life for his friends and enemies” (HGL 451). 4. Unpublished letter from June Yungblut to Merton, March 12, 1968 (archives of the Thomas Merton Center [TMC], Bellarmine University, Louisville, KY). 0000 Complete 1-248 .indd 69 1/28/19 5:23 PM 70 The Merton Annual 31 (2018) As a simple monk of prayer, Merton writes, “My prayers are with you and with him” (HGL 451), and as a priest, he follows up with a promise of a most loving act: “This morning my Eucharistic offering will be for him and for you” (HGL 451). The Christ of the Eucharist that Martin Luther King loved would most likely have been of great comfort to the grieving Coretta. Already, in the April 5 letter to June Yungblut and in the letter of con- dolence sent to Coretta Scott King, the message of Christian love, which Merton calls into question the next day in his journal, is very evident. Does this mean he did not actually suffer a crisis of faith? No, the expression of crisis rings true. But so does his irrepressible desire to want to love. Yungblut to Merton, April 6 June Yungblut’s letter of April 6 is also filled with accounts of loving deeds in the midst of heavy sorrow. (Merton’s letter of the previous day and Yungblut’s April 6 letter had passed each other in the mail.) Yungblut tells Merton, “Not one person in the house [the King home] believes that Martin is dead” (TMC archives). Yungblut was at the King home helping to care for the King children while Coretta King flew to Memphis to ac- company her husband’s body home to Atlanta. These two actions, each in their own way, were surely expressions of deep love.
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