Calendar of Saints: Thomas Merton (2)

Twice a week I post a quote from saints from the Episcopal Calendar of Saints that week. They are to be meditative and mindful, playful and thought inducing. I hope they are helpful in your spiritual journeys.

Thomas Merton (1915 - 1968)
Monk, Poet, Spiritual Writer
December 10

Toward the end of his life, Merton developed an interest in Buddhist and other Far Eastern approaches to mysticism and contemplation, and their relation to Christian approaches. He was attending an international conference on Christian and Buddhist monasticism in Bangkok, Thailand, when he was accidentally electrocuted on 10 December 1968. His anti-war insights were a beacon to many of us in the late-60s and early 70s after his death.

Personally, in many ways I see Merton as one who opened the early road for what we today speak of as contemplative living and meditation. He was, and is, a continuing image of insight and the love of God.

-Link