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The Formation of Thomas Merton's Prophetic Spirituality a DISSE THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICA In the School of Prophets: The Formation of Thomas Merton’s Prophetic Spirituality A DISSERTATION Submitted to the Faculty of the School of Theology and Religious Studies Of The Catholic University of America In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree Doctor of Philosophy By Kyle Arcement Washington, D.C. 2013 In the School of Prophets: The Formation of Thomas Merton’s Prophetic Spirituality Kyle Arcement, Ph.D. Raymond Studzinski, Ph.D. While the spirituality of Thomas Merton has widely been acknowledged as bearing a distinctive prophetic quality, little research has examined the underlying formative influences which shaped the contours of the prophetic element of his spirituality. By identifying the various figures Merton describes as prophetic and analyzing why he does so, the particular values he bestows on the prophetic dimension of Christian life can be discerned. William Blake and Latin American poets like Pablo Antonio Cuadra, Alfonso Cortés, and César Vallejo taught Merton the value of perceiving reality with a certain prophetic vision. From them, Merton learned the merit and power of poetic language and symbol to cut through the muddle of modern consciousness. Novelists such as Boris Pasternak, Albert Camus, and William Faulkner helped Merton recognize the distinctive ability of literature to express the imagination’s prophetic, sapiential insights into the human predicament. Existentialists like Søren Kierkegaard and Gabriel Marcel helped Merton clarify the prophetic role of fidelity, authenticity, passion, and obedience in Christian life. The Desert Fathers and other monastics, especially Bernard of Clairvaux, offered to Merton a paradigm of monasticism that was simultaneously contemplative and prophetic in nature. As a whole, these sources helped form a number of identifiable contours to Merton’s prophetic spirituality. First, Merton’s spirituality is characterized by a certain way of viewing reality that can be called prophetic. Through the use of the prophetic imagination, expressed especially in poetry and literature, transcendent values are apprehended and proclaimed in a manner that effectively exposes misplaced values and structures of evil. Secondly, Merton’s prophetic spirituality insists upon transcendent values like simplicity, solitude and authenticity to expose a one-dimensional society’s addictive lifestyle and unmask illusions which keep people trapped in them. Thirdly, Merton’s prophetic spirituality is fundamentally charismatic in nature. Discerning God’s voice, openness, availability, passion and experience are all necessary elements for protecting the prophetic dimension of the spiritual life from being dissipated by the institutional. Fourthly, humble fidelity to God is foundational and often leads to one becoming a sign of contradiction to the values of the world and the misplaced values of the Church. This dissertation by Kyle Arcement fulfills the dissertation requirement for the doctoral degree in Spirituality approved by Raymond Studzinski, Ph.D., as Director, and by James Wiseman, STD, and Christopher Begg, STD, Ph.D. as Readers. ____________________________________ Raymond Studzinski, OSB, Ph.D., Director ____________________________________ James Wiseman, OSB, STD, Reader ____________________________________ Christopher Begg, STD, Ph.D., Reader ii For my parents, Warren and Nancy Arcement, whose limitless patience and support have made this dissertation possible. iii Contents List of Abbreviations v Introduction 1 Part One: The Writer as Prophet Chapter 1 Learning How to See: Thomas Merton and the Prophetic Vision of William Blake 20 Chapter 2 Finding Prophetic Inspiration in Latin America 49 Chapter 3 Thomas Merton’s Prophetic Spirituality in “Message to Poets” 83 Chapter 4 Prophetic Fiction: Thomas Merton’s Reading of Boris Pasternak, Albert Camus, and William Faulkner 99 Part Two: The Existentialist as Prophet Chapter 5 A Prophecy of Faith and Hope: Thomas Merton and Christian Existentialism 145 Chapter 6 The Role of Authenticity in Thomas Merton’s Prophetic Spirituality 170 Part Three: The Contemplative as Prophet Chapter 7 Prophetic Monasticism 199 Chapter 8 The Contemplative-Prophetic Vocation in The Springs of Contemplation 229 Conclusion 254 Bibliography 263 iv Abbreviations AJ The Asian Journal of Thomas Merton (1973) CFT The Courage for Truth (1993) CGB Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander (1966) CP The Collected Poems of Thomas Merton (1977) CWA Contemplation in a World of Action (1971) DQ Disputed Questions (1960) DWL Dancing in the Water of Life (1997) ETS Entering the Silence (1995) FV Faith and Violence (1968) GNV Gandhi on Non-Violence (1965) HGL The Hidden Ground of Love (1985) HR Honorable Reader: Reflections on My Work (1991) LE The Literary Essays of Thomas Merton (1981) LTL Learning to Love (1997) MZM Mystics and Zen Masters (1967) NVA The Nonviolent Alternative (1980) OSM The Other Side of the Mountain (1998) RTJ The Road to Joy (1989) RTM Run to the Mountain (1994) SCH The School of Charity (1990) SD Seeds of Destruction (1964) SFS A Search for Solitude (1996) SJ The Sign of Jonas (1953) v SPR The Springs of Contemplation (1992) SSM The Seven Storey Mountain (1948) TME The Thomas Merton Encyclopedia (2002) TTW Turning Toward the World (1996) WTF Witness to Freedom (1994) vi Introduction A Life in Formation Perhaps one of the most defining aspects of the personality of Thomas Merton (1915-68), the popular and unconventional Trappist monk of the Abbey of Our Lady of Gethsemani near Bardstown, Kentucky, was his refusal to ever view his life as a finished product. Life, rather, meant growth—and monastic life, in particular, was a call to live life vowed to intense and unending growth. Openness to new ideas, thus, marked his spiritual disposition. Curiosity propelled him toward the discovery of that longed-for insight that would expand his ever widening consciousness. His unrelenting desire for deeper knowledge and understanding would lead him down varied and sometimes “unorthodox” paths (unorthodox, at least, according to the expectations of a Trappist monk of his era). Aware of the hazards that accompany such pursuits, he trod along, nonetheless, toward the goal of an integrated, unified life.1 Because of his high esteem for new ideas, Merton approached life with childlike eagerness. The humility which is the foundation of the monk’s spiritual quest is evident in the way he allowed himself to be influenced by others, even when aspects of their ideas or lives were disagreeable to him. He had the unique ability to engage, discriminate, sift, discern, and apply other people’s valuable ideas to his life without ever causing these people to feel devalued because of ideas which he ignored or left by the wayside. He was a 1 Interpreting Merton’s spiritual journey through the lens of “integration” is highlighted by two books edited by M. Basil Pennington: Thomas Merton, My Brother: His Journey to Freedom, Compassion, and Final Integration (Hyde Park, N.Y.: New City Press, 1996) and Toward an Integrated Humanity: Thomas Merton’s Journey (Kalamazoo, MI: Cistercian Publications, 1988). 1 2 consummate ecumenist. Any assessment of Merton’s life or thought must, therefore, consider its dynamic and evolving nature. Fortunately, those interested in evaluating the formation of the various aspects of his life and thought have a life vividly laid bare in his voluminous journal writing and thousands of letters.2 The seven volumes of Merton journals published between 1995 and 19983 offer a rare glimpse into the motivating influences upon his life and demonstrate the formation of many of his evolving ideas. Nearly thirty years of his life are chronicled almost uninterruptedly—beginning with his first entry on May 2, 1939, and concluding with his final entry two days before his untimely death on December 8, 1968. Much of what he wrote in these journals was edited and published in his lifetime: The Sign of Jonas (1953), The Secular Journal of Thomas Merton (1959), and Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander (1966). The Asian Journal of Thomas Merton (1973), Woods, Shore, Desert (1983), A Vow of Conversation (1988), and Thomas Merton in Alaska (1988) were all published posthumously. With the publication of the entire seven volume corpus, the arc of Merton’s life is openly displayed before the reader and his life comes into clearer focus. We also gain access into the many struggles, uncertainties, frustrations, as well as breakthroughs and triumphs of a man in pursuit of God and a meaningful existence. Many commentators consider the journals Merton’s greatest achievement as a writer. Merton’s secretary, Br. 2 Although it is uncertain as to the number of letters Merton actually wrote, William Shannon states, “Four thousand would be a conservative figure; probably, the number is much higher” (William H. Shannon, “Letters,” in idem, Christine M. Bochen, and Patrick F. O’Connell, The Thomas Merton Encyclopedia [Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 2002], 255; hereafter TME). 3 It was stipulated by Merton in the Merton Legacy Trust, which was drawn up the year before his death, that the journals as a whole or in part could be published at the discretion of the Merton Legacy Trust but not until after the official biography had been published and not until twenty-five years had elapsed since his death. 3 Patrick Hart, writes, “There is no denying that Thomas Merton was an inveterate diarist. He clarified his ideas in writing especially by keeping a journal. Perhaps his best writing can be found in the journals, where he was expressing what was deepest in his heart with no thought of censorship.”4 Lawrence Cunningham suggests that “It was in the published journal, especially, that one finds the most fecund of his spiritual insights. It is those books that will most endure not because they are interesting or timely but because they reflect the experiences of a person who was deeply centered and whose whole life was an exercise in absorbing knowledge in order to become a caring and wise person.”5 The other major source which reveals Merton’s progressive maturation is the five volumes of selected letters published between 1985 and 1994: vol.
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