Turning Toward the World: The Pivotal Years (The Journals of Thomas Merton, Volume 4: 1960-1963)

390 Pages·1997·0.92 MB·English

by  Thomas Merton

Thomas Merton
Turning Toward the World
The Pivotal Years
EDITED BY VICTOR A. KRAMER
Inexorably life moves on towards crisis and mystery.
August 16, 1961
Contents
Epigraph vi
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction: Toward Crisis and Mystery xiii
PART I: The Promise of a “Hermitage”
May 1960-December 1960 1
PART II: The Continuing Need to Question
January 1961-December 1961 83
PART III: Seeking the Right Balance
January 1962-December 1962 191
PART IV: Gifts of Qulet and Nature
January 1963-July 1963 283
Index 353
About the Author
Other Books by Thomas Merton
Cover
Copyright
About the Publisher

Acknowledgments
Numerous persons have assisted me in the preparation of this journal. Above
all, the monks of the Abbey of Gethsemani have provided an atmosphere of
quiet and continuing support during my many visits to that monastery and
when I have telephoned. Brother Patrick Hart, as friend and as General Editor
of The Journals of Thomas Merton, has tirelessly answered questions about
everything from Merton’s script to monastic customs. Other monks–Matthew
Kelty and Chrysogonus Waddell at Gethsemani, Bernard Johnson at Our Lady
of the Holy Spirit at Conyers–have generously answered my many queries.
Graduate students have assisted in deciphering, transcribing, and word
processing. Sometimes they have corrected readings of Merton’s tight, hurried
handwriting and assisted with proofreading. Two people who have assisted
in these ways and been invaluable with this project are David Remy and Paul
Wise, both of whom have helped me to read Merton’s hand and to turn Xerox
copies into typescript.
All this help as the project moved forward from deciphering holograph, to
seeking references in libraries, to proofreading has made it possible to assemble
the many pieces of what sometimes seemed an almost overwhelming puzzle
provided by the energetic Father Louis. Georgia State University awarded a
research grant that provided some funds for research, equipment, and travel,
as well as one year of support for graduate research assistance in 1993-1994.
The Department of English provided one quarter of graduate research cost-
share funding that year.
Interlibrary loans as well as the resources of many libraries in Atlanta have
made it possible for the editing of this project to become mostly a pleasure as
well as an ongoing learning exercise, which I am sure will lead to still other
related projects. I am especially thankful for the support provided by the refer-
ence and interlibrary staffs of Georgia State University. I am thankful for the
assistance of library personnel at the Pitts Theological Library of Emory Uni-
versity and the Columbia Theological Seminary
x
Library in Decatur, as well as for assistance from various public libraries in the
Greater Atlanta area.
My fellow editor Jonathan Montaldo (Volume 2) has provided steady encour-
agement, especially during the concluding year of this project as deadlines
were adjusted to meet publishing needs. Fr. Laurence Bourget provided an
invaluable reading of the penultimate version of the manuscript. His wisdom
clarified much of what Merton wrote. Other editors of the complete journal
project have also provided encouragement, answers to questions, and assistance
with details as the project unfolded. Both Lawrence Cunningham (Volume 3)
and Robert Daggy (Volume 5) have made useful suggestions. Numerous visits
to the Thomas Merton Studies Center at Bellarmine College; queries answered
by Robert Daggy, the curator there; and assistance by Marquita Breit of the
Bellarmine College Library have facilitated the completion of this project.
Similarly, many visits to the card catalog in the library of the Abbey of
Gethsemani were necessitated as month by month this project became less of
a puzzle and more of a pleasure. I am appreciative of all this assistance and of
all the opportunities I have had to work on this fascinating project.
To be in the quiet of the Gethsemani Abbey library, to locate an obscure
reference, and to go into the stacks and find the exact book that Merton had
decades earlier held in his hands as he wrote some particular entry for this
journal was a very satisfying feeling. It was as if the labor of Merton’s keeping
a systematic journal during these pivotal years and my work as editor leading
toward this finished edited volume were together coalescing to form new en-
lightenment at those very moments. All this is possible because of the work of
so many persons. Truly such an editing project as this has been a pleasure be-
cause it was a collective effort.
Translations of almost all of the foreign language passages here were facilit-
ated by Robert Urekew of St. Catherine’s College in Springfield, Kentucky. He
fastidiously assisted with the French and Latin and also proved that his
knowledge of Spanish, Italian, Greek, and German as well as knowledge of
monastic usages could solve mysteries page by page. Sometimes, he could
decipher Merton’s handwriting when it seemed almost illegible.
Other persons who assisted in finding answers to many questions about
language and translations were my wife, Dr. Dewey Weiss Kramer, and Dr.
Umberto Delgado-Jenkins, her colleague at Dekalb College. Finally, Dr. Kathleen
Doig, of Georgia State, and Dr. James Doig, of Clayton State
xi
College, have provided considerable thorough, invaluable assistance with re-
gard to many, sometimes vexing, questions about French and Latin spelling,
phrasing, and translation as well as Thomistic nuances.
My thanks cannot be fully expressed to all the people, mentioned and un-
mentioned, who have made this project a success. Once again I simply indicate
my gratitude.