On June 27, 1949, Merton was allowed, for the first time, to venture outside the Abbey of Gethsemani’s gated enclosure to walk in the woods alone. His writing and his spirituality changed forever as a result. In Thomas Merton's Gethsemani: Landscapes of Paradise, author Monica Weis notes, "Once beyond the monastery walls, Merton's heart soared." Why? Perhaps, after being doused in words for years, suddenly he could share an expansive, silent space with God and just listen. This session will explore what Merton found beneath the branches, on the hills, and in all of nature: a sense of transcendence.
Sophfronia Scott is a novelist, essayist, and leading contemplative thinker whose work has appeared in numerous publications. Her latest book, The Seeker and the Monk: Everyday Conversations with Thomas Merton, received a Louie award in 2021. Sophfronia’s other books include Love's Long Line, and This Child of Faith: Raising a Spiritual Child in a Secular World, co-written with her son Tain. She holds degrees from Harvard and Vermont College of Fine Arts. Sophfronia lives in Sandy Hook, Connecticut and is the founding director of Alma College’s MFA in Creative Writing, a graduate program based in Alma, Michigan.
Robert Ellsberg - 'It's the Direction that Matters': How Sister Wendy Beckett Changed Her Mind about Merton
Sophfronia Scott - Courageous Conversations on Death with Thomas Merton
Leslye Colvin - Merton: An Invitation to Unbind Him and Ourselves
Anne Pearson - White Man Writing on Racism: Thomas Merton and ”Letters to a White Liberal”
Ilia Delio - Merton’s Christophany and the Second Axial Monk
BONUS episode, Shannen Dee Williams - America’s Real Sister Act: Illuminating the Hidden History of Black Catholic Nuns in the African American Freedom Struggle
Cassidy Hall - Queering Thomas Merton
BONUS episode, Simone Campbell - Hunger for Hope: Contemplation and Political Action
BONUS episode, Sophia Park - Dancing with Thomas Merton in the Borderland
BONUS episode, Maria Clara Lucchetti Bingemer - Women in Merton’s Life: Notes on His Experience with the Feminine
Mark C. Meade - The Seven Storey Mountain at Seventy-Five: Classic or Déclassé?
BONUS episode: Christopher Pramuk’s Presidential Address for Sophia Comes Forth Reaching, the 18th General Meeting of the ITMS
Jim Robinson - Spirituality Sustainability and Social Justice: Embodying “Integral Ecology” with Thomas Merton and Rosemary Radford Ruether
Patrick F. O’Connell - Beyond the Blurbs: Thomas Merton and St. Augustine
Mary Frohlich, RSCJ - Merton as Disciple and Re-interpreter of St. John of the Cross
Bob Grip - Washington Watches the Monk II
Emma McDonald - Fully Human and Fully Real: Thomas Merton on Technology and Embodiment
David Golemboski - People that God Has Brought together: Thomas Merton on the Hope of Political Community Beyond Nationalism
2022-11-08 - Partners in the General Dance of the Spirit: Thomas Merton and Ilia Delio Evolving into the Grandeur of God
2022-10-11 - Julianne Wallace - Of Messengers of Peace: A Liturgy for Our World in the Voices of Merton and Francis
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