Some of us recently celebrated the birthday of a great spiritual and religious figure in 20th century U.S. and world history, the Catholic monk, Thomas Merton.
Though a Cistercian monk from 1941 to 1968, residing at Gethsemane monastery in Kentucky, Merton became world-famous and a prolific author and correspondent. He wrote, especially in the early years, about the spiritual life and the value of "desert wisdom."
But in later years, he wrote about social issues of war and peace, economic inequality, environmental justice and racism. In fact, during the 1960s, before his untimely and tragic accidental death, he was a kind of unofficial chaplain to the Christian peace movement in this country.
He died while in Thailand giving a series of lectures to Buddhist monks. Merton had explored Buddhism deeply and wrote several books on Eastern religious perspectives. As a "global prophet" and deep seeker of wisdom from many traditions, he was probably as much a Buddhist as Christian by the time of his death.
In my mind, perhaps his greatest contribution to American culture and, specifically, to spiritual seekers, is his insistence on the importance of developing a balance in one's life between action and contemplation.
He felt most people were excessive in their active lives and had no idea how to build contemplation and reflection into their busyness. This he thought was a tragedy and led to most of us practicing a kind of "philosophy of violence."
To "accept demands and commitments beyond the limits of our endurance ... and the desire to assist everyone in everything, is a capitulation to the philosophy of violence," he wrote.
The need for contemplation, in Merton's view, has a lot to do with "self-understanding, integrity, and capacity to love." It's a check on obsessiveness, aggressiveness and "ego-centered ambitions."
We've made a "fetish out of action," he wrote, and have lost (or never had) the ability to pray, meditate and contemplate.
Contemplation for Merton helps remind us of the "sacredness of life," makes us more aware of this awe-inspiring universe that sustains us and the creator and source who gives us life. Contemplation helps attune us to the wider community and reminds us of the importance of listening and nurturing those with whom we are on a great journey.
I'm grateful for Thomas Merton, for the contemplative tradition that nurtured him to be a great spiritual resource for the world, and for his insight of the convergence of many religious traditions around the importance of checking our excessive activity with a healthy dose of silence and reflection in whatever way we are able in our busy lives. He is a gift to the universe.
The Rev. Art McDonald is minister at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Essex.
