I’ve been struggling with how to
begin a discussion about Thomas Merton for some time now. He is one of the people of the 20th
century that I admire most, perhaps even the most. Thomas Merton was quite famous for a while,
but he is not particularly well remembered nearly 50 years after his
death. In the 1940’s Thomas Merton wrote
a book, The Seven Storey Mountain,
about contemplative, communal life. It
was a best-seller, and made him famous.
Being famous was a challenge for Merton, as he himself belonged to a
strict contemplative community, namely the Order of Cistersians of the Strict
Observance (O.C.S.O.), better known as the Trappists. Trappists are famously introspective and
meditative. In fact, most people think
that they take a vow of silence, although their silence is merely encouraged
rather than enforced. As you might well
imagine, Merton’s fame presented challenges for him personally, and for the
order.
After his initial success, Merton
continued to write about spiritual matters with the blessing of the O.C.S.O. In fact, had the order forbade him to write,
we may never have heard from him, as he was both devoted and disciplined. By the 1950’s he had largely devoted his
writings to the moral issues of war, and the spiritual need to pursue
peace. He became increasingly concerned
with the moral challenge presented by nuclear weapons. Gradually, the Trappist order became more
concerned about the increasingly political tone of his writings, and suppressed
a good deal of his writing, although he continued to combat censorship within
the order, while maintaining the strictest discipline required of a Trappist
monk. The resulting body of work was an
incredibly rich source of moral thought in terms of nuclear armament. His writings included poetry, letters, essays
and novels. Much of his work was
published posthumously, having died accidentally in Thailand in 1968. His thoughts on pacifism and moral duty are
some of the best articulated thoughts in the modern era.
By 1961, Thomas Merton had
dedicated his life to nuclear disarmament.
He wrote a poem Original
Child Bomb, which may be read or heard on The Healing Project blog, found
in the link above. It is stark and
humorless free verse, with 41 numbered stanzas.
I urge you to read it or listen to the reading on the blog.
In the last stanza of the poem,
there is a rueful comment that men are fatigued by the questions. AS we approach the 70th
anniversary of the destruction of both Hiroshima and Nagasaki, I feel that the
fatigue has become poorly understood and easily dismissed history. The non-proliferation protocol seems to have
largely failed. On the day I started
preparing this blog, a tentative deal with Iran was reached which would commit
that country to not producing a nuclear weapon.
There are a great number of Senators and Congressmen who do not want to
ratify the agreement. We should
carefully consider Thomas Merton’s moral objections to nuclear warfare, and
whether a belligerent strategy will be
preferable to a negotiated peace.
