Religion

THOMAS MERTON • Thoughts in Solitude

s ut the bride scalds

her face with tears .

rm already a wet rag, I catch my breath . .. bareY

•oance!"- they shout in desperation,

and I dance again .. . sack home, my ankles feel as stiff as wood; but from yet another wedding

drunken guests come knocking at the door once more. Soon as mother lets me go, rm off to weddings once again, and round the tablecloth anew 1 stamp my feet and bend my knees. The bride sheds bitter tears, fri ends are tearful too. I'm afraid for everyone.

I've no desire to dance, but you can't

not dance.

THOMAS MERTON

Thoughts in Solitude

After an excellent and cosmopolitan education in Europe and the United States , Thomas Merton (1915-1968) converted to Roman Catholicism in

From Thomas Merton, Thoughts in Solitude (New York: Farrar, Straus & Cudahy, 1958), p. 83 .

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QUESTIONS • 6. Can I Control What I Shall Do and Become?

1938 and entered a strict monastic community in 1941. His writing from the monastery - first and most notably his autobiography, The Seven Storey Mountain (1948), but also dozens of other books as well as exten- sive correspondence with other spiritual leaders - made him an influen- tial voice for Catholic Christianity, and his works continue to be widely read today. Though residing in a contemplative community in a rural area, Merton prayed and wrote about pressing social issues such as race rela- tions, war, and economic injustice, and he also encouraged Western Chris- tians to give attention to the religions of the East.

This prayer, widely known as the Thomas Merton prayer, provides a classic Christian answer to the question of whether we can control what we shall do and become. Does Merton's profession of ignorance seem to you a realistic description of the human ability to shape the future? Does his trust in God seem to you a daring venture, a sign of weakness, or something else?

My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it. Therefore will I trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.

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