[Magdalen] Spending Time With Merton

[M J _Mike_ Logsdon]

I used to have the vast majority of Merton's writings.  So much was sadly let go of long ago.

But I, of course, kept his SEVEN STOREY MOUNTAIN.  And, -- which I highly recommend, Scott, if you haven't already read/got it, -- Michael Mott's THE SEVEN MOUNTAINS OF THOMAS MERTON (1984; republished in 1993 "with a new afterword by the author" (Harvest Book/Harcourt Brace & Company), the official biography as countenanced by the Thomas Merton Legacy Trust, with access to material both published and unpublished afforded only the said official biographer, -- is probably well worth the while.  As per the Washington Post Book World on the back cover, "the real drama [begins where Merton's own bestselling 1948 autobiography leaves off]."  I read only a bit of it aeons ago, so can't speak too knowingly about it, but I do remember it being quite good, as far as I got, and recall.

Maybe I need to read SEVEN STOREY MOUNTAIN again.  "[O]ppressive grayness" takes many forms, both inside, and out.  Thanks for the reminding "Merton nudge".

:-)

>>>I couldn't face the oppressive grayness outside today, so I spent the
afternoon indoors with Thomas Merton's The Seven Storey Mountain. Almost
finished.

An essential read that is helping inspire me...I've needed to read
someone's fervent commitment to the faith, as it's felt like a hobby lately
rather than an understanding of How Things Are. Very helpful.

He sure didn't have time for non-RC Christians, though, did he? His
experience of the C of E was not the best..."a class cult." Not surprising,
as he had experienced the public boys' school variety of chapel services,
mainly. But I sort of have to read around his condescension toward
Anglicans and Old Catholics (he had a common bad impression of that,
too...a man who had been an archbishop in such a "schismatic" sect). I
suppose he's saying what he should say as an RC.

Needed to reread "Mountain" before delving into No Man Is an Island and New
Seeds of Contemplation. I need his help.<<<

M J (Mike) Logsdon.

"Aaugh[.]" -- Charles Brown.
"Avoid dull needles and use a soft cloth." -- E Kovacs.
"Because that's the kind of guy, I'm." -- C Reiner, "Your Show of Shows", skit: "From Here to Obscurity".