Saturday, March 4, 2017

The Humanity of Thomas Merton

Here is an excellent short clip about the influence of the great Trappist monk, Thomas Merton, from PBS Religion and Ethics NewsWeekly.

He opened up the realm of spirituality to everyone.

"Any person on the street, if they were committed to it and devoted to trying it, then that path was open to them," notes the documentary producer, Morgan Atkinson.

Merton came to the church late after college and after what some call a rather hedonistic lifestyle. He finally settled at the Abbey of Gethsemani in Louisville, Kentucky. There, he wrote books and became one of the most influential Catholic thinkers in the 20th century.

 Merton's autobiography, The Seven Storey Mountain, was a best seller. Merton died in a freak accident in Thailand in 1968 when he was only 53. He touched a fan with faulty wiring and was electrocuted.

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