Thomas merton the biography poems silence

Silence is a key theme in Thomas Merton’s life and writings. During the first Eucharistic celebration in which Merton participated, he was very moved by the silence that was integral to the experience.

In 1935, Merton attended a Quaker meeting and was impressed by its silent nature. Regarding his first visit to the Abbey of Gethsemani in 1941, Merton reflected that the silence there enfolded him and spoke more eloquently to him than any words possibly could.[1]  During his twenty-seven years as a monk at Gethsemani, Merton frequently took solitary walks on the extensive property there and quietly contemplated the beauty of the nature that surrounded him.

Encounters with birds, deer, frogs, and landscape such as ponds, knobs, and thick forests sent Merton’s spirit soaring because, for him, nature was a window on God’s incredible creativity.

In 1968, while in the Himalayas, Merton spoke of his several retreat days there in th