Turning Toward the World: The Pivotal Years (The Journals of Thomas Merton, Volume 4: 1960-1963) PDF
Preview Turning Toward the World: The Pivotal Years (The Journals of Thomas Merton, Volume 4: 1960-1963)
Thomas Merton Turning Toward the World The Pivotal Years EDITED BY VICTOR A. KRAMER Inexorably life moves on towards crisis and mystery. August 16, 1961 Contents Epigraph vi Acknowledgments ix Introduction: Toward Crisis and Mystery xiii PART I: The Promise of a “Hermitage” May 1960-December 1960 1 PART II: The Continuing Need to Question January 1961-December 1961 83 PART III: Seeking the Right Balance January 1962-December 1962 191 PART IV: Gifts of Qulet and Nature January 1963-July 1963 283 Index 353 About the Author Other Books by Thomas Merton Cover Copyright About the Publisher Acknowledgments Numerous persons have assisted me in the preparation of this journal. Above all, the monks of the Abbey of Gethsemani have provided an atmosphere of quiet and continuing support during my many visits to that monastery and when I have telephoned. Brother Patrick Hart, as friend and as General Editor of The Journals of Thomas Merton, has tirelessly answered questions about everything from Merton’s script to monastic customs. Other monks–Matthew Kelty and Chrysogonus Waddell at Gethsemani, Bernard Johnson at Our Lady of the Holy Spirit at Conyers–have generously answered my many queries. Graduate students have assisted in deciphering, transcribing, and word processing. Sometimes they have corrected readings of Merton’s tight, hurried handwriting and assisted with proofreading. Two people who have assisted in these ways and been invaluable with this project are David Remy and Paul Wise, both of whom have helped me to read Merton’s hand and to turn Xerox copies into typescript. All this help as the project moved forward from deciphering holograph, to seeking references in libraries, to proofreading has made it possible to assemble the many pieces of what sometimes seemed an almost overwhelming puzzle provided by the energetic Father Louis. Georgia State University awarded a research grant that provided some funds for research, equipment, and travel, as well as one year of support for graduate research assistance in 1993-1994. The Department of English provided one quarter of graduate research cost- share funding that year. Interlibrary loans as well as the resources of many libraries in Atlanta have made it possible for the editing of this project to become mostly a pleasure as well as an ongoing learning exercise, which I am sure will lead to still other related projects. I am especially thankful for the support provided by the refer- ence and interlibrary staffs of Georgia State University. I am thankful for the assistance of library personnel at the Pitts Theological Library of Emory Uni- versity and the Columbia Theological Seminary x Library in Decatur, as well as for assistance from various public libraries in the Greater Atlanta area. My fellow editor Jonathan Montaldo (Volume 2) has provided steady encour- agement, especially during the concluding year of this project as deadlines were adjusted to meet publishing needs. Fr. Laurence Bourget provided an invaluable reading of the penultimate version of the manuscript. His wisdom clarified much of what Merton wrote. Other editors of the complete journal project have also provided encouragement, answers to questions, and assistance with details as the project unfolded. Both Lawrence Cunningham (Volume 3) and Robert Daggy (Volume 5) have made useful suggestions. Numerous visits to the Thomas Merton Studies Center at Bellarmine College; queries answered by Robert Daggy, the curator there; and assistance by Marquita Breit of the Bellarmine College Library have facilitated the completion of this project. Similarly, many visits to the card catalog in the library of the Abbey of Gethsemani were necessitated as month by month this project became less of a puzzle and more of a pleasure. I am appreciative of all this assistance and of all the opportunities I have had to work on this fascinating project. To be in the quiet of the Gethsemani Abbey library, to locate an obscure reference, and to go into the stacks and find the exact book that Merton had decades earlier held in his hands as he wrote some particular entry for this journal was a very satisfying feeling. It was as if the labor of Merton’s keeping a systematic journal during these pivotal years and my work as editor leading toward this finished edited volume were together coalescing to form new en- lightenment at those very moments. All this is possible because of the work of so many persons. Truly such an editing project as this has been a pleasure be- cause it was a collective effort. Translations of almost all of the foreign language passages here were facilit- ated by Robert Urekew of St. Catherine’s College in Springfield, Kentucky. He fastidiously assisted with the French and Latin and also proved that his knowledge of Spanish, Italian, Greek, and German as well as knowledge of monastic usages could solve mysteries page by page. Sometimes, he could decipher Merton’s handwriting when it seemed almost illegible. Other persons who assisted in finding answers to many questions about language and translations were my wife, Dr. Dewey Weiss Kramer, and Dr. Umberto Delgado-Jenkins, her colleague at Dekalb College. Finally, Dr. Kathleen Doig, of Georgia State, and Dr. James Doig, of Clayton State xi College, have provided considerable thorough, invaluable assistance with re- gard to many, sometimes vexing, questions about French and Latin spelling, phrasing, and translation as well as Thomistic nuances. My thanks cannot be fully expressed to all the people, mentioned and un- mentioned, who have made this project a success. Once again I simply indicate my gratitude.
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