Your 2 fav Merton books

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OK, I have read some of Merton, and THIS site posts many of his reflections.

My question: can you please name your 2 (no more, no less 😃 ) favorite Merton books, with an explanation as to why these are your 2 favorites?

Thanks:)
 
“Run to the Mountain: the story of a Vocation.” I read his Cuban journal first. Then went back to the New York, and have yet to finish the last third - library book. Only book that I have read of his. My brother had the book, from HS. Me, 6 years later, didn’t get it at HS.
 
I love “The Sign Of Jonas” – which details the years immediately preceeding and following his ordination. It is full of hope, of deep spiritual insight and love of God, written from the perspective of someone still relatively new to both the Catholic religion and a Trappist vocation. In later years Merton appears somewhat disillusioned by the human-ness of his Abbot, the pressures from a phenomenal growth in his monastery and simply by the drabness of ordinary life. In “Jonas” his outlook is shiny and new, fervent in his love for Jesus and Mary and his chosen vocation. Here he’s naive in a charming, fresh way – and his writing is lyrical in this book – more than any other that I’ve read.

My second choice is – all of his other journals. Sorry to break your rule, but they are all wonderful in their own way. They show his extreme humanity but give a clear picture of the real Merton, with all his foibles, and of his astounding intelligence and fully-realized faith.

“New Seeds Of Contemplation” is a stunner, too.
 
CAnnElizabeth said:
I love “The Sign Of Jonas” – which details the years immediately preceeding and following his ordination. It is full of hope, of deep spiritual insight and love of God, written from the perspective of someone still relatively new to both the Catholic religion and a Trappist vocation. In later years Merton appears somewhat disillusioned by the human-ness of his Abbot, the pressures from a phenomenal growth in his monastery and simply by the drabness of ordinary life. In “Jonas” his outlook is shiny and new, fervent in his love for Jesus and Mary and his chosen vocation. Here he’s naive in a charming, fresh way – and his writing is lyrical in this book – more than any other that I’ve read.

My second choice is – all of his other journals. Sorry to break your rule, but they are all wonderful in their own way. They show his extreme humanity but give a clear picture of the real Merton, with all his foibles, and of his astounding intelligence and fully-realized faith.

“New Seeds Of Contemplation” is a stunner, too.
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Thanks so much.🙂
 
CAnnElizabeth said:
I love “The Sign Of Jonas” – which details the years immediately preceeding and following his ordination. It is full of hope, of deep spiritual insight and love of God, written from the perspective of someone still relatively new to both the Catholic religion and a Trappist vocation. In later years Merton appears somewhat disillusioned by the human-ness of his Abbot, the pressures from a phenomenal growth in his monastery and simply by the drabness of ordinary life. In “Jonas” his outlook is shiny and new, fervent in his love for Jesus and Mary and his chosen vocation. Here he’s naive in a charming, fresh way – and his writing is lyrical in this book – more than any other that I’ve read.

My second choice is – all of his other journals. Sorry to break your rule, but they are all wonderful in their own way. They show his extreme humanity but give a clear picture of the real Merton, with all his foibles, and of his astounding intelligence and fully-realized faith.

“New Seeds Of Contemplation” is a stunner, too.
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Code:
We must be careful when reading Merton…I have read many! The New Seeds of Contemplation is one of them as it is riddled with eastern philosophy which is condemned by the church! Unfortunately, Merton got caught up with all of this and he bastartised his own books (at the end).

That being said, I love especially ‘The Seven Story Mountain’. This is the only one that I really loved.

See I named tow books!😃
 
Echoing Silence, on the vocation of a writer and The Power and Meaning of Love for obvious reasons.

I have always liked Merton books, he is able to distill ideas and feelings in a way that is very simple, but I do feel that sometimes he oversimplifies, and his involvement in Eastern thought, which learning about is not bad per se, but I am worried it might lead people astray. So I prefer to use resource such as Thomas Haemerkken (Imitation of Christ) when trying to explain the faith to people - because it does not complicate it by introducing foreign elements… And of course the Bible and Catechism 😛

👍
 
I think that The Seven Storey Mountain is requisite to reading any other Merton. So here are two other titles for you to consider:

Angelic Mistakes: The Art of Thomas Merton

When the Trees Say Nothing: Writings on Nature
 
Oh man, I’ve got to pick just two? Hmmm.

“The Seven Storey Mountain”, as an adult convert baptized Catholic, I felt I could relate a little bit to his story.

“The Ascent to Truth”, I just like a lot that is written in this book.
 
I have three favourties by Tom Merton:


  1. *]“Opening The Bible” because it opened a whole new world for me to the reading of Scripture especially on how Scripture can have a quite personal message to the reader.
    *]“Contemplation in a World of Action” because I felt called to the contemplative life and it opened up new perspectives on contemplative life for me. This led me to a whole way of life - opened up the path that led me to it.
    *]“Contemplative Prayer” I found this a rather dark sort of book to read, but it sure explained many mystical type matters in quite contemporary language and terminology for me allowing me to go back to the mystical classics anew and with new understandings.

    Barb
 
I loved “What Are These Wounds?” by Thomas Merton - the life of Cisterician nun St. Lutgarde.
 
If I can only pick 2 they would be
  • New Seeds of Contemplation - It helped me through a tragic time in my life. * When the Trees Say Nothing - It guided me to God by the wonders of His creation
Go with Love, Go with God
 
DarkNight said:
If I can only pick 2 they would be
  • New Seeds of Contemplation - It helped me through a tragic time in my life. * When the Trees Say Nothing - It guided me to God by the wonders of His creation
Go with Love, Go with God
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Thanks so very much for sharing.
 
Check out www.merton.org. There you will learn everything you ever wanted to know about the man, and then some!😃

For me *The Seven Storey Mountain *is a given!😉

My next 2 favorites-

*No Man Is An Island *and
Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander
 
I have The Seven Story Mountain. 🙂

Could you give me a 1 sentence synopsis of your other 2 choices, please?🙂
 
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