Dialogues with Silence: Prayers & Drawings

by Thomas Merton

Overview

The Private Merton

This intensely personal book from the ultimate spiritual writer of our time shows his contemplative and devotional side through his prayers and rarely seen drawings.  Capturing the quiet epiphanies in the life of a Trappist monk who was a celebrated writer and activist, this volume offers a glimpse into a lesser-known side of this timeless explorer of the life of the soul.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780060656034
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	02/17/2004
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	208
Sales rank:	517,299
Product dimensions:	5.31(w) x 8.00(h) x 0.52(d)

About the Author

Thomas Merton (1915-1968) is widely regarded as one of the most influential spiritual writers of modern times. He was a Trappist monk, writer, and peace and civil rights activist. His bestselling books include The Seven-Storey Mountain, New Seeds of Contemplation, and Mystics and Zen Masters.

Read an Excerpt

Lord, when the clock strikes
Telling the time with cold tin
And I sit hooded in this lectern
Waiting for the monks to come,
I see the red cheeses, and bowls
All smile with milk in ranks upon their tables.

Light fills my proper globe
(I have one light to read by
With a little, tinkling chain)

And the monks come down the cloister
With robes as voluble as water.
I do not see them but I hear their waves.

It is winter, and my hands prepare
To turn the pages of the saints:
And to the trees Thy moon has frozen on the windows
My tongue shall sing Thy Scripture.

Then the monks pause upon the step
(With me here in this lectern
And Thee there on Thy crucifix)
And gather little pearls of water on their fingers' ends
Smaller than this my psalm.

Dialogues with Silence. Copyright © by Thomas Merton. Reprinted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. Available now wherever books are sold.

What People are Saying About This

Lawrence S. Cunningham

“This is Thomas Merton at his most profound: a book to linger over and savor.”

Rosemary Radford Ruether

“This is a charming and welcome addition to the Merton corpus, giving us a glimpse of Merton the artist.”

Editorial Reviews

This is Thomas Merton at his most profound: a book to linger over and savor.” — Lawrence S. Cunningham, editor of Thomas Merton: Spiritual Master

“This is a charming and welcome addition to the Merton corpus, giving us a glimpse of Merton the artist.” — Rosemary Radford Ruether, author of GAIA & GOD

“Whether you’re a long-time Merton fan or need an introduction, Dialogues with Silence is a great unveiling.” — BookPage

“[These drawings and prayers] reflect a devotional life stripped of pretense, open to God’s surprises.” — Christian Century

“Casts new and thought provoking light on [Merton’s] finely written prayers...highly recommended.” — Library Journal

“...a glimpse of [Merton’s] journey never before seen. Merton fans will certainly welcome this new addition.” — Publishers Weekly (shaded review)

“Helps the reader enter Merton’s spiritual vision and participate personally in the monk’s encounters with Silence.” — America Magazine

From the Publisher

[These drawings and prayers] reflect a devotional life stripped of pretense, open to God’s surprises.

Christian Century

Helps the reader enter Merton’s spiritual vision and participate personally in the monk’s encounters with Silence.

America Magazine

This is a charming and welcome addition to the Merton corpus, giving us a glimpse of Merton the artist.

Rosemary Radford Ruether

Whether you’re a long-time Merton fan or need an introduction, Dialogues with Silence is a great unveiling.

BookPage

This is Thomas Merton at his most profound: a book to linger over and savor.

Lawrence S. Cunningham

Like his beautifully crafted letters and journals, Merton's prayers and drawings reveal his multifaceted personality, his hunger for God and his passion for providing others with a glimpse of the path to union with God. Jonathan Montaldo, who directs the Thomas Merton Center at Bellarmine College in Louisville, Ky., collects here for the first time Merton's black-and-white line drawings along with the monk's prayers, most of which have been previously published. The effect is stunning, for the drawings and prayers are printed on facing pages. The stark realism of Merton's art startles and prepares the soul for the prayer on the opposite page. For example, opposite a drawing of a humble Mary, he prays: "Lady, Queen of Heaven, pray me into solitude and silence and unity, that all my ways may be immaculate in God.... Let me... disappear into the writing I do. It should mean nothing special to me... its results should not concern me." Opposite a half-formed figure, Merton prays: "My God, I pray better to You by breathing/ I pray better to You by walking than by talking." While some readers will wonder why the world needs another book of Merton's writings when these prayers are available already, Merton's art provides a glimpse of his journey never before seen. Merton fans will certainly welcome this new addition to their already burgeoning shelves. (Nov.) Forecast: Publishing Thomas Merton's writings has become a small cottage industry, and Harper San Francisco holds the key to the cottage door. As long as there are treasures to be mined from Merton's life and writings, expect more little volumes like this. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

It is at times difficult to believe that the writings of a Trappist monk who died in 1968 continue to attract attention, but it is without doubt that Merton's works continue to instruct, challenge, and comfort a new generation of Christian and non-Christian readers alike. This book is both new and old, in that it combines prayers and meditations from published writings of Merton that are still widely available with his rarely seen and touchingly nonprofessional drawings not only of saints or religious figures but of trees, flowers, and ordinary people. While this book will never add Merton to the ranks of great artists, it indeed casts new and thought-provoking light on his finely written prayers. Highly recommended. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal