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The Sign of Jonas
This diary of a monastic life is “a continuation of The Seven Storey Mountain . . . Astonishing” (Commonweal).
Chronicling six years of Thomas Merton’s life in a Trappist monastery, The Sign of Jonas takes us through his day-to-day experiences at the Abbey of Our Lady of Gethsemani, where he lived in silence and prayer for much of his life.
Concluding with the account of Merton’s ordination as a priest, this diary documents his growing acceptance of his vocation—and the greater meaning he found within his private world of contemplation.
“This book is made unmistakably real and almost, at times, unbearably poignant by the fact that the exuberance of youth so often wells up through it with rapture, impatience, and even bluster.” —TheNew York Times
“A stirring book—the most readable and on the whole, most illuminating of the author’s writings.” —Catholic World
Chronicling six years of Thomas Merton’s life in a Trappist monastery, The Sign of Jonas takes us through his day-to-day experiences at the Abbey of Our Lady of Gethsemani, where he lived in silence and prayer for much of his life.
Concluding with the account of Merton’s ordination as a priest, this diary documents his growing acceptance of his vocation—and the greater meaning he found within his private world of contemplation.
“This book is made unmistakably real and almost, at times, unbearably poignant by the fact that the exuberance of youth so often wells up through it with rapture, impatience, and even bluster.” —TheNew York Times
“A stirring book—the most readable and on the whole, most illuminating of the author’s writings.” —Catholic World
379 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1953
336 people are currently reading
1438 people want to read
About the author
Thomas Merton
577 books1,919 followersThomas Merton, religious name M. Louis, was an American Trappist monk, writer, theologian, mystic, poet, social activist and scholar of comparative religion. In December 1941 he entered the Trappist Abbey of Gethsemani and in May 1949 he was ordained to priesthood. He was a member of the convent of the Abbey of Our Lady of Gethsemani, near Bardstown, Kentucky, living there from 1941 to his death.
Merton wrote more than 50 books in a period of 27 years, mostly on spirituality, social justice and a quiet pacifism, as well as scores of essays and reviews. Among Merton's most enduring works is his bestselling autobiography The Seven Storey Mountain (1948). His account of his spiritual journey inspired scores of World War II veterans, students, and teenagers to explore offerings of monasteries across the US. It is on National Review's list of the 100 best nonfiction books of the century.
Merton became a keen proponent of interfaith understanding, exploring Eastern religions through his study of mystic practice. His interfaith conversation, which preserved both Protestant and Catholic theological positions, helped to build mutual respect via their shared experiences at a period of heightened hostility. He is particularly known for having pioneered dialogue with prominent Asian spiritual figures, including the Dalai Lama XIV; Japanese writer D.T. Suzuki; Thai Buddhist monk Buddhadasa Bhikkhu, and Vietnamese monk Thich Nhat Hanh. He traveled extensively in the course of meeting with them and attending international conferences on religion. In addition, he wrote books on Zen Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism, and how Christianity is related to them. This was highly unusual at the time in the United States, particularly within the religious orders.
Merton wrote more than 50 books in a period of 27 years, mostly on spirituality, social justice and a quiet pacifism, as well as scores of essays and reviews. Among Merton's most enduring works is his bestselling autobiography The Seven Storey Mountain (1948). His account of his spiritual journey inspired scores of World War II veterans, students, and teenagers to explore offerings of monasteries across the US. It is on National Review's list of the 100 best nonfiction books of the century.
Merton became a keen proponent of interfaith understanding, exploring Eastern religions through his study of mystic practice. His interfaith conversation, which preserved both Protestant and Catholic theological positions, helped to build mutual respect via their shared experiences at a period of heightened hostility. He is particularly known for having pioneered dialogue with prominent Asian spiritual figures, including the Dalai Lama XIV; Japanese writer D.T. Suzuki; Thai Buddhist monk Buddhadasa Bhikkhu, and Vietnamese monk Thich Nhat Hanh. He traveled extensively in the course of meeting with them and attending international conferences on religion. In addition, he wrote books on Zen Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism, and how Christianity is related to them. This was highly unusual at the time in the United States, particularly within the religious orders.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 79 reviews
June 15, 2011
This is probably the third or even fourth time I've read this book, my favorite of the many works by Thomas Merton. I began re-reading it after attending a silent Lenten retreat, and have continued through Holy Week and the Easter season. "The Sign of Jonas" is one of only a handful of books I've read and re-read over the last few decades; the reason is that for some reason I feel he's speaking directly to me in this painfully honest description of the monastic years leading up to his ordination to the priesthood.
"The Sign of Jonas" does more than take up where "The Seven Storey Mountain" left off, although during it we see the first copy of the latter book put into Merton's hands by his Abbot, and we witness his struggle with the irony of becoming a famous author while living as a cloistered monk who has taken a vow of silence. He also struggles with his facility at language and self-expression, his hunger for intellectual and scholarly work, his pride and desire for attention and literary recognition vs. his desire for humility, silence, and losing himself in "nothingness."
An free-thinking, exuberant intellectual who might well have become an English or philosophy professor at Columbia, where he studied, Merton also took a vow of obedience that became a lifelong challenge. Furthermore, as the world outside the monastery was changed by World War II, nuclear weapons, and the Cold War, he became more and more divided between the worlds of "action" and "contemplation," between lives of political engagement and of prayer for the world -- he chafed at the lack of Church and monastic radicalism, and, like Dietrich Bonhoeffer, found silence and non-engagement an increasingly difficult path.
Merton experiences both joy and despair because of his constant self-examination, heightened by the fact that he is also writing down what he observes, what he feels, what he's reading, what happens in his days. As a longtime journal-keeper and blogger, I identify with this. But it's more than just the fact that he's keeping track and looking deep, he's also on a spiritual quest that, of necessity, involves going deeper and deeper into solitude even as he is surrounded by a community of monks and, in an exception to the usual four-letters-per-year limit for Cistercian monks, receiving piles of mail every single day from readers anxious to tell him how much his words mean to them.
While I will never be a hermit or a monk, this path of consciously making friends with solitude -- with one's aloneness even when married and involved with family and friends -- in order to know oneself and, perhaps, find greater union with the divine, is my path too. No one I have read speaks about this with greater directness than Merton. He can be maddening, but so can we all, and in the book we are witness to a slow process of change and transformation that I have found moving, hopeful, and often familiar.
There are passages of personal prayer and ecstatic praise with which I don't connect at all, but some of the best writing in the book isn't overtly spiritual at all, such as Merton's descriptions of the natural world around the Gethsemanii monastery: weather, animals, flora and fauna, the local people he sees from afar, never speaking to them but observing and understanding a great deal. At his best he is a tremendously gifted and lyrical writer of English prose, as well as a man of great depth willing to expose his deepest fears and hopes, his failures and weaknesses along with his exuberance and joy, as he grapples with one of life's most challenging vocations.
"The Sign of Jonas" does more than take up where "The Seven Storey Mountain" left off, although during it we see the first copy of the latter book put into Merton's hands by his Abbot, and we witness his struggle with the irony of becoming a famous author while living as a cloistered monk who has taken a vow of silence. He also struggles with his facility at language and self-expression, his hunger for intellectual and scholarly work, his pride and desire for attention and literary recognition vs. his desire for humility, silence, and losing himself in "nothingness."
An free-thinking, exuberant intellectual who might well have become an English or philosophy professor at Columbia, where he studied, Merton also took a vow of obedience that became a lifelong challenge. Furthermore, as the world outside the monastery was changed by World War II, nuclear weapons, and the Cold War, he became more and more divided between the worlds of "action" and "contemplation," between lives of political engagement and of prayer for the world -- he chafed at the lack of Church and monastic radicalism, and, like Dietrich Bonhoeffer, found silence and non-engagement an increasingly difficult path.
Merton experiences both joy and despair because of his constant self-examination, heightened by the fact that he is also writing down what he observes, what he feels, what he's reading, what happens in his days. As a longtime journal-keeper and blogger, I identify with this. But it's more than just the fact that he's keeping track and looking deep, he's also on a spiritual quest that, of necessity, involves going deeper and deeper into solitude even as he is surrounded by a community of monks and, in an exception to the usual four-letters-per-year limit for Cistercian monks, receiving piles of mail every single day from readers anxious to tell him how much his words mean to them.
While I will never be a hermit or a monk, this path of consciously making friends with solitude -- with one's aloneness even when married and involved with family and friends -- in order to know oneself and, perhaps, find greater union with the divine, is my path too. No one I have read speaks about this with greater directness than Merton. He can be maddening, but so can we all, and in the book we are witness to a slow process of change and transformation that I have found moving, hopeful, and often familiar.
There are passages of personal prayer and ecstatic praise with which I don't connect at all, but some of the best writing in the book isn't overtly spiritual at all, such as Merton's descriptions of the natural world around the Gethsemanii monastery: weather, animals, flora and fauna, the local people he sees from afar, never speaking to them but observing and understanding a great deal. At his best he is a tremendously gifted and lyrical writer of English prose, as well as a man of great depth willing to expose his deepest fears and hopes, his failures and weaknesses along with his exuberance and joy, as he grapples with one of life's most challenging vocations.
April 26, 2020
This is several years of Merton’s journals while he was in his mid-30s. These are honest and almost too private to be read by a total stranger. But, I felt privileged to be able to read his thoughts full of spiritual fervor. I think you would have to be a Merton fan to enjoy this book. 4.5 stars
Want to read
August 6, 2016Love this line from a review: just where is God in the midst of all these annoying people I can't get away from?
March 6, 2018
A rich collection of reflections on prayer and the contemplative life along with a healthy dose of Merton's self-aware critiques of his own personal flaws. Although a little less organized than Merton's other journal-style books, such as Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander, fans of Merton will find this book accessible and beneficial for understanding the context of his other books. For instance, he complains often about writing one of his books, while he receives his first copy of The Seven Storey Mountain in another entry. The energy of the writing ebbs and flows throughout, but he did seem to give up a bit on it toward the end of the book.
October 22, 2025
Superlativo, anche alla terza rilettura. È un crescendo che nelle pagine finali prende letteratura il volo. Le parole scaturiscono dalla maturità spirituale di Merton.
July 5, 2023
Are these journals of daily events, written 70 years ago in a Trappist monastery still of interest? What do monks do all day, anyway? The goal is to try to live a simple life of prayer and work , free from the distractions of modern life, one that honors and is pleasing to their god. That’s the ideal, anyway, and a life that Merton tries to evoke by using the biblical story of Jonas as a metaphor.
The story of Jonas is that he was traveling as fast as he could away from Nineveh when he was thrown overboard and swallowed by a whale who took him, not where he wanted to go, but where Yahweh wanted him to go. Christ promised a skeptical audience the “sign of Jonas”, the sign of his own resurrection. Merton interprets the release from the whale as the “resurrection” of every Christian who makes of his life a meaningful and significant one. So Merton’s time that he recounts in these journals, it seems to me, is his voyage in the whale’s belly, his time of testing and endurance, not easy but worthwhile.
Merton, no doubt because of his fame in writing SEVEN STOREY MOUNTAIN, was encouraged by his superior to keep a journal, but he had doubts about its worth, writing,
“If it is tedious to keep a journal, it is still more tedious to keep wondering wheher or not I ought to give it up. I do not know whether it will give glory to God.”
He speculates about what makes for a good life, a saintly life, as he considers an old monk, Brother Gregory who has just died. He says it would have made him happy to have heard something about a “deep and simple spirit of prayer, something abut unsuspected heights of faith, purity of heart, interior silence, solitude, love for God. Perhaps he had spoken with the birds, like Saint France. In short, much of what people think of of when they think of a monastic life. The answer is brief, “Brother was always working.” Merton adds that on hearing these words he felt like a man who has missed his train.
At one bleak moment, Merton writes, “My life is a great mess and tangle of half-conscious subterfuges to evade grace and duty. I have done all things badly.” Merton was exaggerating, but I think part of his difficulty was that, despite being in the monastery, he was still deeply engaged with the world. He was a prolific writer and wrote a number of popular books about religion and how to practice it, He was a prolific correspondent as well, writing to all kinds of people. My impression is that he felt unfocused as if he were trying to do too many things, and not doing them well.
All of these factors are a part of Merton’s “whale” voyage, but in the end he felt his monastic vocation was redemptive. He feels it taught him compassion, a sense that God is always with him in the “ruins of his heart.” For me what gives the book value is the struggles that Merton undergoes. Immensely talented yes, but he writes as a humble human being who faces commonplace struggles, like all of us.
The story of Jonas is that he was traveling as fast as he could away from Nineveh when he was thrown overboard and swallowed by a whale who took him, not where he wanted to go, but where Yahweh wanted him to go. Christ promised a skeptical audience the “sign of Jonas”, the sign of his own resurrection. Merton interprets the release from the whale as the “resurrection” of every Christian who makes of his life a meaningful and significant one. So Merton’s time that he recounts in these journals, it seems to me, is his voyage in the whale’s belly, his time of testing and endurance, not easy but worthwhile.
Merton, no doubt because of his fame in writing SEVEN STOREY MOUNTAIN, was encouraged by his superior to keep a journal, but he had doubts about its worth, writing,
“If it is tedious to keep a journal, it is still more tedious to keep wondering wheher or not I ought to give it up. I do not know whether it will give glory to God.”
He speculates about what makes for a good life, a saintly life, as he considers an old monk, Brother Gregory who has just died. He says it would have made him happy to have heard something about a “deep and simple spirit of prayer, something abut unsuspected heights of faith, purity of heart, interior silence, solitude, love for God. Perhaps he had spoken with the birds, like Saint France. In short, much of what people think of of when they think of a monastic life. The answer is brief, “Brother was always working.” Merton adds that on hearing these words he felt like a man who has missed his train.
At one bleak moment, Merton writes, “My life is a great mess and tangle of half-conscious subterfuges to evade grace and duty. I have done all things badly.” Merton was exaggerating, but I think part of his difficulty was that, despite being in the monastery, he was still deeply engaged with the world. He was a prolific writer and wrote a number of popular books about religion and how to practice it, He was a prolific correspondent as well, writing to all kinds of people. My impression is that he felt unfocused as if he were trying to do too many things, and not doing them well.
All of these factors are a part of Merton’s “whale” voyage, but in the end he felt his monastic vocation was redemptive. He feels it taught him compassion, a sense that God is always with him in the “ruins of his heart.” For me what gives the book value is the struggles that Merton undergoes. Immensely talented yes, but he writes as a humble human being who faces commonplace struggles, like all of us.
June 30, 2016
This book is an intimate look into the life and growth of Thomas Merton. Throughout the journal, readers are taken through Merton's solemn vows as a Cistercian Monk, his ordination as deacon and finally a priest. Readers get a kind of behind the scenes commentary on some of the other well-known works of Merton such as the Seven Story Mountain and Seeds of Contemplation. I was struck particularly by his reflections on the priesthood and the vital role that the Blessed Virgin Mary played in it. Throughout the journal, readers not only see Merton struggle with his writings, as they are being read as table reading at his monastery, but also the temptation to leave his monastery for a the Carthusians. I would say, and Merton would too, that the man who wrote the last chapters of the journal is not the same man who began it. Although this is not true for the majority of the book, I would say that there is a sort of shift, particularly in the last pages, in Merton's spirituality as he becomes fascinated with the solitude of nature. This however, I think should speak to Merton's ability to see the whole world through a contemplative lens. Overall, this journal is filled with orthodox quotes that can easily lift the mind and heart. It is a very honest and easy to read look into the contemplative solitude of Gethsemane Abbey and into the heart of her most acclaimed writer and monk.
August 3, 2016
I read The Sign of Jonas because it was advertised as a sequel to The Seven Storey Mountain. It is a sequel in the sense that the book picks up Merton's story after enters the Abbey of Gethsemani. But it is not a sequel in the sense that it is a very different kind of book. The Sign of Jonas is a journal, covering the years 1946-1952. Merton took his vows in 1941, so already you know that there is a 5 year gap in his life story if you were expecting a direct continuation. But The Sign of Jonas is interesting because the reader finds personal reflections on some important moments in Merton's life, including the publication of The Seven Storey Mountain, and his ordination as a priest. (Some of his most profound theological insights are located in that chapter.)
I read this book while on retreat at Gethsemani, from a copy found in the Abbey library. I enjoyed reading tales of Merton's mundane days, from praying the hours to hiking the knobs around the property. As a retreatant, I could immediately imagine these stories because I participated in them, only 65 years later. (Not much changes in a Trappist monastery.) I recommend this book to anyone who has or will visit Gethsemani, or is curious about the daily lives of Cistercian monks.
I read this book while on retreat at Gethsemani, from a copy found in the Abbey library. I enjoyed reading tales of Merton's mundane days, from praying the hours to hiking the knobs around the property. As a retreatant, I could immediately imagine these stories because I participated in them, only 65 years later. (Not much changes in a Trappist monastery.) I recommend this book to anyone who has or will visit Gethsemani, or is curious about the daily lives of Cistercian monks.
November 28, 2015
I have begun in earnest to explore the writings of Thomas Merton. I am no expert, nor am I a traditional Christian. I have read some of Merton's journal entries, I have read parts of several of his books, but this is the first that grabbed me and would not let me go. This journal is deeply personal; it is deeply filled with doubt; it is deeply filled with his love of Nature; it is deeply filled with a sense of silence; it is deeply filled with God. It is a progression through five years of his life. He did not want to write initially even though told he must by his Abbott, but he eventually arrived at the realization that his writing was in some sense his prayer. The Epilogue was beautiful...words cannot explain the tears that were shed my me...true beauty. I loved the humanity of Merton. I loved laughing at his satiric humor. I would suggest that anyone who is at all interested in Merton the man read this volume.
August 2, 2019
This is somewhat of a sequel to the Seven Storey Mountain, written mostly as a journal recounting Merton’s early days in the monastery. Some of it is just that: the days droning on and on, but it is in between days that we see the sparks and shimmers of Merton’s writing, his love of the contemplative life, as well as his doubts, yearnings, and frustrations. Merton is loved partly because he is such a beautiful writer, painting amazing scenes with words, and there is much of that here to delight the reader. He is also loved for his humanity: here is this man of God who experiences frustrations just as we do. Lots of insight into abbey life as well. The journal format sometimes makes it hard to read too much in one sitting, but I enjoyed reading it over a few months, getting a dose of Merton every other day or so, a few pages at a time.
September 28, 2015
Fascinating journal of famed contemplative writer Thomas Merton. His insights into the world around him and his love for Christ is apparent on every page. His wit often surprises at the most unexpected moments, and his observations about nature are unparalleled. Recommended for lovers of meditation and contemplative living.
January 31, 2023
In punta di piedi proverò a recensire un libro di Thomas Merton. Ho deciso di leggere in particolare questo libro, Il segno di Giona, grazie a una conferenza del teologo polacco Maciej Bielawski tenutasi a Torino qualche anno fa e a cui ho avuto la fortuna di assistere.
Il segno di Giona non è soltanto un diario in cui Merton ci parla dei suoi primi 5 anni vissuti nel monastero del Getsemani nel Kentucky, ma è soprattutto un percorso mistico che ha il suo culmine nell'epilogo dal titolo "Notte di guardia, 4 luglio 1952". Merton, grazie a delle descrizioni molto dettagliate di ciò che lo circonda, ci parla in parallelo anche di ciò che avviene dentro di lui: le sue emozioni, le sue inquietudini, i suoi dubbi. Nei primi capitoli Merton è più ancorato alle cose esterne e alle sue emozioni, e ci parla dell'ambiente in cui vive, lavora e prega. La vita nel monastero è scandita dai tempi per le preghiere, ma i frati, essendo benedettini, devono dedicare tempo anche al lavoro nei campi e nei boschi che circondano il convento. Merton si rammarica che il lavoro fisico, tra cui nel suo caso anche lo scrivere libri, non gli permette di ritagliarsi più tempo per la solitudine e la contemplazione. Si sofferma a parlarci soprattutto della ricerca della solitudine e del silenzio esteriore per raggiungere il silenzio interiore e potersi perdere in ciò che lui chiama "il silenzio di Dio". Da cistercense vorrebbe diventare certosino e farsi spostare in un altro monastero, ma l'abate non glielo concede. Come premesso, nei primi capitoli seguiamo soprattutto queste riflessioni, ma Merton ci parla anche del suo noviziato, della sua ordinazione presbiterale e del suo compito di scrivere libri. In poche parole, ci rende partecipi della sua quotidianità.
Lentamente, andando avanti con la lettura e soprattutto negli ultimi due capitoli, Merton ci parla molto di più delle sue contemplazioni ed esperienze ascetiche. Diventa sempre più etereo ed è difficile seguirlo nelle sue speculazioni e comprendere le descrizioni e le metafore. Il culmine, come accennato precedentemente, è nell'epilogo, quando ci racconta dettagliatamente la sua ronda di guardia nel monastero, di notte, mentre gli altri frati dormono. La descrizione di questo giro notturno è metafora non solo delle sue esperienze mistiche, ma di tutto il percorso spirituale. La sua perlustrazione inizia dal buio delle cantine, procede salendo attraversando la cucina e i dormitori, per salire ulteriormente e alla fine, attraverso una vecchia porta, raggiungere la torre che lo conduce all'esterno nella vastità della notte, sotto un cielo stellato, dove si immerge nel tanto desiderato "silenzio di Dio".
È un libro molto personale, molto intimistico, e soprattutto molto commovente.
Il segno di Giona non è soltanto un diario in cui Merton ci parla dei suoi primi 5 anni vissuti nel monastero del Getsemani nel Kentucky, ma è soprattutto un percorso mistico che ha il suo culmine nell'epilogo dal titolo "Notte di guardia, 4 luglio 1952". Merton, grazie a delle descrizioni molto dettagliate di ciò che lo circonda, ci parla in parallelo anche di ciò che avviene dentro di lui: le sue emozioni, le sue inquietudini, i suoi dubbi. Nei primi capitoli Merton è più ancorato alle cose esterne e alle sue emozioni, e ci parla dell'ambiente in cui vive, lavora e prega. La vita nel monastero è scandita dai tempi per le preghiere, ma i frati, essendo benedettini, devono dedicare tempo anche al lavoro nei campi e nei boschi che circondano il convento. Merton si rammarica che il lavoro fisico, tra cui nel suo caso anche lo scrivere libri, non gli permette di ritagliarsi più tempo per la solitudine e la contemplazione. Si sofferma a parlarci soprattutto della ricerca della solitudine e del silenzio esteriore per raggiungere il silenzio interiore e potersi perdere in ciò che lui chiama "il silenzio di Dio". Da cistercense vorrebbe diventare certosino e farsi spostare in un altro monastero, ma l'abate non glielo concede. Come premesso, nei primi capitoli seguiamo soprattutto queste riflessioni, ma Merton ci parla anche del suo noviziato, della sua ordinazione presbiterale e del suo compito di scrivere libri. In poche parole, ci rende partecipi della sua quotidianità.
Lentamente, andando avanti con la lettura e soprattutto negli ultimi due capitoli, Merton ci parla molto di più delle sue contemplazioni ed esperienze ascetiche. Diventa sempre più etereo ed è difficile seguirlo nelle sue speculazioni e comprendere le descrizioni e le metafore. Il culmine, come accennato precedentemente, è nell'epilogo, quando ci racconta dettagliatamente la sua ronda di guardia nel monastero, di notte, mentre gli altri frati dormono. La descrizione di questo giro notturno è metafora non solo delle sue esperienze mistiche, ma di tutto il percorso spirituale. La sua perlustrazione inizia dal buio delle cantine, procede salendo attraversando la cucina e i dormitori, per salire ulteriormente e alla fine, attraverso una vecchia porta, raggiungere la torre che lo conduce all'esterno nella vastità della notte, sotto un cielo stellato, dove si immerge nel tanto desiderato "silenzio di Dio".
È un libro molto personale, molto intimistico, e soprattutto molto commovente.
October 7, 2024
I started this originally September 2021, and restarted it again almost exactly a year ago. This book was very difficult for me to read. It is Merton's journal during some of his time as a Trappist monk. He shares a lot of great insight into developing one's spiritual life, and he also shares a lot about the logistics of his fame... and complains a lot about many things. There was also a lot of untranslated Latin and French text. I think it could have used some editing, but above all I think it would have been best if converted into a daily wall calendar.
"When the whole church is crying out with me, there is some chance of finding peace, in the feeling that God is somehow, after all, receiving praise from my lips."
"When the whole church is crying out with me, there is some chance of finding peace, in the feeling that God is somehow, after all, receiving praise from my lips."
October 6, 2019
It’s been a long and pleasurable journey with ole Merton and this is perhaps my tenth or such read of his. This certainly sits in his earlier canon of works where he is bursting with delight and excitement at his new found vocation. In some ways I have increasingly been drawn to his later works where he felt more free to engage in political commentary and current thought, perhaps I’m inclined that way as the last I read of his was Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander. Nonetheless, I think it is in every good thinking persons best interest to have a literary journal or diary to add to their diet of currently-reading. This certainly moves one deeply with the charm of monastic life and also Merton’s gift of blending complex catholic thought with rich and elegant poetic tendencies. His strength is that instead of what would be dense and formal, instead he wrestles with dogma as one taken to song.
Worth the dive if you’re looking for a fresh spiritual diary to spend a time walking along the way with.
Worth the dive if you’re looking for a fresh spiritual diary to spend a time walking along the way with.
November 7, 2022
Great book, fascinating in the diary format to learn what the life of someone else is like. Some very interesting thoughts. One of my favorite entries:
"I think the reason we have so little joy is that we take ourselves too seriously. Joy can only be real if it is based on truth, and since the fall of Adam all man's life is shot through with falsehood and illusion. That is why Saint Bernard is right in leading us back to joy by the love of truth. His starting point is the truth of our own insignificance in comparison with God. To penetrate the truth of how utterly unimportant we are is the only thing that can set us free to enjoy true happiness."
"I think the reason we have so little joy is that we take ourselves too seriously. Joy can only be real if it is based on truth, and since the fall of Adam all man's life is shot through with falsehood and illusion. That is why Saint Bernard is right in leading us back to joy by the love of truth. His starting point is the truth of our own insignificance in comparison with God. To penetrate the truth of how utterly unimportant we are is the only thing that can set us free to enjoy true happiness."
December 26, 2024
Zamiast recenzji, moje ulubione fragmenty. Bóg i świat w oczach Mertona jest tak poruszający…
* Korzystaj ze wszystkich krzyzy, jakie Jezus na Ciebie zsyła. Nie zdajesz sobie sprawy jaką przyjemnosc sprawiasz Jezusowi, rozpoznając we wszystkich tych próbach działanie Jego miłości, czyniącej dobro.
* Postawil cie w tym miejscu, a gdy kiedykolwiek zechce mnie umiescic gdzieindziej, uczyni to w sposob nie pozostawiajacy watpliwosci, ze to On działa.
* Nie widze nic, niczego nie rozumiem, przykro mi, że się skarżę i robię zamieszanie. Chcę tylko podobać się Bogu i spełniać jego wolę.
* Nie musze koniecznie wypisywac poboznych kawalkow na temat moich uczuc.
* Przyszłami tez mysl na temat psalterza, ale i tej nie zapisze. Miewam bardzo głupie myśli.
* Czego potrzebujemy przed wszystkim, to slow, ktore naucza nas kochac sie wzajemnie, i rady, ktora nas wzmocni, bysmy zwyciezali zlo dobrem.
* Nie stawiam tych pytan w duchu zbuntowania. Chciałbym naprawdę wiedzieć.
* Nie bede ranic sie myslami i pytaniami, ktore otoczyly mnie jak ciernie: tej pokuty nie żądasz ode mnie. Utworzyles moja dusze dla Twojego pokoju i Twojego milczenia, a rozdarta jest halasem mojej dzialanosci i moich pragnien. Umysl moj codziennie jest ukrzyzowny przez wlasny glod jego doswiadczen, pomyslow, zadowolenia. Nie posiadam mojego domu w milczeniu.
* Ciesze sie, ze te kartki ukazuja mnie takim, jakim jestem- halasliwym, pelnym rozgwaru moich wad i namietnosci, z szeroko otwartymi ranami po moich grzechach. Pelnym wlasnej prozni. A jednak, chociaż moj dom jest taka ruiną, Ty w nim mieszkasz.
* Wszystko co dobre, trzymaj w tajemnicy nawet przed samym sobą. Jezeli znajdziemy Boga w glebokosciach wlasnej duszy, poxostawmy wszystkich na zewnatrz, ze soba wlacznie.
* Sztuka i asceza. Artysta musi byc wolny, inaczej material zapanuje nad nim, xamiast zeby on zapanowal nad materialem. Dlatego sztuka wymaga ascezy.
* I chociaz zle jest szukac Boga tam, gdzie Go nie mozna znalezc, mimo to dobrze jest mniej lub wyrazniej go szukac.
* Ale jesli przysporzy chwaly Bogu to, ze stoje tam wsrod zametu, nie mam nic przeciwko temu.
* ,,Dlatego jezeli odkryjesz, ze stygniesz w swoim odczuwaniu poboznosci, czy tez ogarnie Cie zniechecenie i zmeczenie, nie trac serca z tego powodu i nie zaprzestan dazenia do duchowej doskonalosci”
* Chcialbym byc ubogim. Ale nie chce byc ubogim w sposob, ktory by zakladal, ze uwazalem sie za bogatego. Nie jestem bogaty. Tylko siedze w moim skladziku drugorzednych uczuc i idei, ktore przewaznie przyprawiaja mnie o lekkie mdlosci.
* ,,I cóż, gdyvy noc dzisiejsza była świata nocą ostatnią?”
* Ja tylko mówię, że ufam Tobie. Moje czyny świadczą, że ufam- ale sobie, i że jeszcze się Ciebie obawiam.
* Powiedzial to wszystko, co chcialem powiedziec dawno temu, gdybym odkryl, ze tego wlasnie chcialem.
* Nie miec nic innego do roboty, jak zatracic sie w Bogu i kochać Boga! Milczenie i samotnosc to najwieksze luksusy zycia.
* Niemniej co dzien milosc dopada mnie gdzies i otacza mnie pokojem tak, ze nie potrzebuje szukac daleko ani bardzo usilnie, ani tez robic nic specjalnego. Boj jest, kim jest i moje zycie nie potrzebuje niczego, tylko jego.
* Im bardziej jestes samolubny, tym bardxiej skomplikowane staje sie zycie
* O Boze, nie dozwol mi odbierac Ci czasu, ktory nalezy do Ciebie w kontemplacji.
* Kazdej minuty zycie zaczyna sie na nowo. Amen
* Najlepszym sposobem, żeby oddać cesarzowu to, co cesarskie, jest nie posiadać absolutnie żadnych rzeczy cesarskich, a wtedy bie bedzie mial prawa do Ciebie.
* Ale Boze Narodzenie dano nam, abysmy pokochali ten rodzaj pokory, ktory jest miloscia i obejmuje radosnie przeciwienstwa i trudnosci, i wszystko inne.
* Od miesiaca biore w czasie tej prxerwy swietego Lukasza do rozmyslania i jest on tak piekny, ze caly pale sie od wewnetrznych swiatel, a w moim sercu jest swieto.
* Chrystus rozpoznaje siebie, kiedy dusze, ktore poprze milosc sa do Niego podobne, poznaja sie wzajemnie po tym, jak sie Jego milosc w nich przejawia i zaczynaja Go chwalic, i pobudzac sie wzajemnie do wiekszej milosci, ku Jego radosci.
* Ludzie prosza mnie o rady. Przypuszczalnie nie powinienem ich dawac: czuje sie okropnie robiac to- nie dlatego, ze ludzie wezma mnie za glupca, ale poniewaz moga stosowac sie do nich.
* Dlaczego pragnę rzeczy, ktore nie są Bogiem?
* Przestan zadawac sobie pytania, ktore nie maja znaczenia. Albo, jezeli maja znaczenie, znajdziesz, kiedy zajdzie potrzeba, razem pytania i odpowiedzi.
* Jedyny Jego obraz jest w nas wszystkich, i odkrywamy Go, odkrywając podobieństwo Jego obrazu w innych lu- dziach. To nie niszczy różnic między nami, ale te wszystkie przypadłości przestają wiele znaczyć, kiedy przekonamy się, że w rzeczywistości jesteśmy jednym w Jego miłości. Jest wielką Jego chwałą, gdy ludzie cieszą się, znajdując Go w innych - nie drogą wysiłku albo przez ślepe akty wiary, ale doświadczeniem miłości, rozjaśnionej może przez Ma- drość - gdyż jest to kosztowanie i smakowanie Boskiego odbicia w radości, która jest Jego zwierciadłem w duszach,
* To wielka rzecz, kiedy Chrystus, ukryty w duszach a może zmuszony przez świat do ukrywania się obja- wia się niespodziewanie, nieprzewidzianym znakiem swojej obecności. Wtedy dusze rozjaśniają się całe poznaniem Jego i odkrywają Go w sobie, gdy nie wyobrażały sobie nawet, że się gdzieś znajduje.
* Świat, na który irytuję się na papierze, jest byc moze tworem mojej wyobrazni. Jest to psychologiczna gra, w ktora bawilem sie od 10 roku zycia. A jednak wieloma rzeczami w swiecie mozna byc obrzydzonym.
* Bałem się, że cały kościół może runąć mi na głowę, z powodu tego, czym byłem przedtem- jakby to nie było już przebaczone!
* […] wyszedlem z archiwum z przekonaniem, ze pisanie to cos bardzo niskirgo i malo znacznego, i ze ja, ktory niemal identyfikujr sie z pisaniem- jestem tez niski i malo znaczny.
* O co Bog chce, abym Go prosil? Sam mi powie, a kiedy sie dowiem, da mi rowniez to, o co Go prosze.
* Milosc Boza wystarczy, aby ziemie obrocic w niebo. Gdyz Bog jest miloscia, a milosc jest niebem.[…] po mojej pierwszej Mszy Świętej zrozumialem doskonale, po raz pierwszy w zyciu, ze nic nie jest wazne na swiecie, jak tylko kochac Boga i sluzyc Mu z prostota i rafoscia.
* Większosc moich klopotow plynie z pewnego subtelnego braku ubóstwa.
* Boh sprawia, ze najczesciej stawiamy sobie pytania wtedy, kiedy sam chce dac odpowiedz. Daje nam pragnienia, ktore sam tylko moze zaspokoic, wzbudza uzdolnienia, ktore zamierza zrealizowac. Kazdy niepokoj moze byc duchowym brzemieniem, wiodacym do nowych narodzin i mistycznej regeneracji.
* Noszę siebie jak tonę ciężaru.
* Odrzucałem wielkie mozliwosci. A moja niewiernosc Chrystusowi, zamiast uczynic mnie chorym z rozpaczy, tym bardziej rzuca mnie na ślepo w ramiona Jego milosierdzia.
* Bardzo czesto postanawiamy sobie rzeczy dobre, nie dosyc jednak dobre, bo sa tylko naszym pomyslem. O wlasciwej porze Pan Bog faje nam fo zrozumienia, ze z nich rezygnuje na korzyzc rzeczy ovzywiscie lepszych.
* Przez czytanie Pisma Św. Jestem tak odnowiony, ze cala natura dokola odnowila sie ze mna. Blekit nieba wydaje sie czystszy i chlodniejszy, zielen drzew silniej zielona, swiatlo pada ostrzej na zarysy lasow u wzgorz, a caly swiat zajety jest chwałą Bożą i czuję ogień i muzykę w ziemi pod stopami.
* Obojętnie jak prostą może być rozmowa, nigdy nie jest dosc prosta. Obojętnie jak prostą może być myśl, nigdy nie jest dosc prosta. Obojętnie jak prostą może być miłość, nigdy nie jest dosc prosta. Jedyna rzecz, która pozostaje, to prostota duszy w Bogu, albo lepiej- prostota Boga.
* Bie da sie uzywac wielkich slow, mowiac o Chrystusie. Skoro wydaje się, że nie potrafię mowic o Nim jezykiem dziecka, doszedlem do punktu, ze w ogole ledwo mogę mowic o Nim. Wszystkie moje slowa napelniaja mnie wstydem.
* W dzienniku tym opisywałem pokój, nie strach i sądzę, że dobrze zrobilem, bo z biegiem czasu pokoj wzrosl, a strach zniknal. Pokoj byl rzeczywistoscia, a strach byl zludzeniem.
* Być szczerym nie zanudzając. To rodzaj ukrzyżowania, nie bardzo dramatycznt czy bolesny, ale wymaga tyle uczciwości, że jesr to powyżej mojej natury. Musi samo przyjść jakoś od Ducha Świętego.
* A więc żyję tak samotny i nienaruszony pośród świętej piękności wszystkich stworzonych rzeczy, wiedząc, że cokolwiek widzę, słyszę i dotykam, nigdy do mnie należeć nie będzie- zawstydzony moją absurdalną potrzebą oddania się którejś z tych rzeczy, albo wszystkim.
* Tylko dla Boga warto jest żyć, a we mnie grają jeszcze orkiestry, które zagłuszają Jego głos.
* Twoje światło księżyca świeci w moją duszę szeroko otwartą, gdy wszystko milczy.
* Tym razem będę napisany, jestem impresją, która się zmieni.
* Zegar tyka, ale może mimo wszystko nie ma takiej rzeczy, jak czas.
* Matko, uczyń mnie tak szczerym, jak ten obraz. Przez cały czas, do głębi mojej duszy szczerym, szczerym.
* Tak jakbysmy wszyscy odkryli cos nowego do kochania jedni w drugich, cos niewinniejszego i doskonalszego od wszystkiego, cosmy dotąd widzieli.
* Myślę, że musiałem mieć ze sobą jakąś książkę, tak jak on całkiem wyraźnie miał broń. Jedno i drugie składało się na nasze przebranie. Nie wiem, kim on był. Nie byłem całkiem pewny czy sam wiem, kim jestem. W jednym i w drugim wypafku było to bez znaczenia. Nie padł ani jeden strzał. Nie odwróciłem ani jednej kartki książki, którą mogłem mieć za sobą, albo i nie. Ani kropla deszczu nie spadła. Ani ptak nie zaśpiewał. Wygodny jest ten nasz świat bez wiedzy i bez mądrości.
* Gdybyśmy mówili tylko to, co rzeczywiście mamy do powiedzenia, mówilibyśmy bardzo mało.
* Wiele rzeczy głosimy tylko dlatego, ponieważ sądzimy, że ludzir od nas tego oczekują. Milczenie Boga winni nas uczyć kiedy mówić, a kiedy nie mówić. Ale nie możemy znieść myśli o tym milczeniu w obawie, że będzie nas to kosztowało zaufanie i szacunek ludzki.
* I czy nie jest bardziej upokarzające być podzieianym za to, co podziwiają ludzie, niż być pogardzanym za to, co podziwiają aniołowie?
* Potrzebujemy ich (słów) nie tylko dla porozumienia się z innymi, ale i dla porozumienia się z samym sobą, gdyż nie jesteśmy sobą.
* Myślę, że głównym powodem, daczego mamy tak mało radości jest, że bierzemy siebie zbyt serio.
* Jakze moge Cie kochac, kiedy nie wiem kim jestem i kim Ty jesteś? A jak mogę to wiedzieć bez żalu? Jezus, nie chcę mieć więcej nic wspólnego z miłością, która zapomina o wdzięczności.
* I jak to zwykle bywa w Królestwie Niebieskim, wyrzeklwszy sie tego, co chcialem, otrzymalem wiecej nawet, niz moglem pomyslec, ze chcę.
* Czy otworzysz jakieś drzwii na wielki las i przy księżycu wprowadzisz mnie na drabinę i zabierzesz między gwiazdy?
* Korzystaj ze wszystkich krzyzy, jakie Jezus na Ciebie zsyła. Nie zdajesz sobie sprawy jaką przyjemnosc sprawiasz Jezusowi, rozpoznając we wszystkich tych próbach działanie Jego miłości, czyniącej dobro.
* Postawil cie w tym miejscu, a gdy kiedykolwiek zechce mnie umiescic gdzieindziej, uczyni to w sposob nie pozostawiajacy watpliwosci, ze to On działa.
* Nie widze nic, niczego nie rozumiem, przykro mi, że się skarżę i robię zamieszanie. Chcę tylko podobać się Bogu i spełniać jego wolę.
* Nie musze koniecznie wypisywac poboznych kawalkow na temat moich uczuc.
* Przyszłami tez mysl na temat psalterza, ale i tej nie zapisze. Miewam bardzo głupie myśli.
* Czego potrzebujemy przed wszystkim, to slow, ktore naucza nas kochac sie wzajemnie, i rady, ktora nas wzmocni, bysmy zwyciezali zlo dobrem.
* Nie stawiam tych pytan w duchu zbuntowania. Chciałbym naprawdę wiedzieć.
* Nie bede ranic sie myslami i pytaniami, ktore otoczyly mnie jak ciernie: tej pokuty nie żądasz ode mnie. Utworzyles moja dusze dla Twojego pokoju i Twojego milczenia, a rozdarta jest halasem mojej dzialanosci i moich pragnien. Umysl moj codziennie jest ukrzyzowny przez wlasny glod jego doswiadczen, pomyslow, zadowolenia. Nie posiadam mojego domu w milczeniu.
* Ciesze sie, ze te kartki ukazuja mnie takim, jakim jestem- halasliwym, pelnym rozgwaru moich wad i namietnosci, z szeroko otwartymi ranami po moich grzechach. Pelnym wlasnej prozni. A jednak, chociaż moj dom jest taka ruiną, Ty w nim mieszkasz.
* Wszystko co dobre, trzymaj w tajemnicy nawet przed samym sobą. Jezeli znajdziemy Boga w glebokosciach wlasnej duszy, poxostawmy wszystkich na zewnatrz, ze soba wlacznie.
* Sztuka i asceza. Artysta musi byc wolny, inaczej material zapanuje nad nim, xamiast zeby on zapanowal nad materialem. Dlatego sztuka wymaga ascezy.
* I chociaz zle jest szukac Boga tam, gdzie Go nie mozna znalezc, mimo to dobrze jest mniej lub wyrazniej go szukac.
* Ale jesli przysporzy chwaly Bogu to, ze stoje tam wsrod zametu, nie mam nic przeciwko temu.
* ,,Dlatego jezeli odkryjesz, ze stygniesz w swoim odczuwaniu poboznosci, czy tez ogarnie Cie zniechecenie i zmeczenie, nie trac serca z tego powodu i nie zaprzestan dazenia do duchowej doskonalosci”
* Chcialbym byc ubogim. Ale nie chce byc ubogim w sposob, ktory by zakladal, ze uwazalem sie za bogatego. Nie jestem bogaty. Tylko siedze w moim skladziku drugorzednych uczuc i idei, ktore przewaznie przyprawiaja mnie o lekkie mdlosci.
* ,,I cóż, gdyvy noc dzisiejsza była świata nocą ostatnią?”
* Ja tylko mówię, że ufam Tobie. Moje czyny świadczą, że ufam- ale sobie, i że jeszcze się Ciebie obawiam.
* Powiedzial to wszystko, co chcialem powiedziec dawno temu, gdybym odkryl, ze tego wlasnie chcialem.
* Nie miec nic innego do roboty, jak zatracic sie w Bogu i kochać Boga! Milczenie i samotnosc to najwieksze luksusy zycia.
* Niemniej co dzien milosc dopada mnie gdzies i otacza mnie pokojem tak, ze nie potrzebuje szukac daleko ani bardzo usilnie, ani tez robic nic specjalnego. Boj jest, kim jest i moje zycie nie potrzebuje niczego, tylko jego.
* Im bardziej jestes samolubny, tym bardxiej skomplikowane staje sie zycie
* O Boze, nie dozwol mi odbierac Ci czasu, ktory nalezy do Ciebie w kontemplacji.
* Kazdej minuty zycie zaczyna sie na nowo. Amen
* Najlepszym sposobem, żeby oddać cesarzowu to, co cesarskie, jest nie posiadać absolutnie żadnych rzeczy cesarskich, a wtedy bie bedzie mial prawa do Ciebie.
* Ale Boze Narodzenie dano nam, abysmy pokochali ten rodzaj pokory, ktory jest miloscia i obejmuje radosnie przeciwienstwa i trudnosci, i wszystko inne.
* Od miesiaca biore w czasie tej prxerwy swietego Lukasza do rozmyslania i jest on tak piekny, ze caly pale sie od wewnetrznych swiatel, a w moim sercu jest swieto.
* Chrystus rozpoznaje siebie, kiedy dusze, ktore poprze milosc sa do Niego podobne, poznaja sie wzajemnie po tym, jak sie Jego milosc w nich przejawia i zaczynaja Go chwalic, i pobudzac sie wzajemnie do wiekszej milosci, ku Jego radosci.
* Ludzie prosza mnie o rady. Przypuszczalnie nie powinienem ich dawac: czuje sie okropnie robiac to- nie dlatego, ze ludzie wezma mnie za glupca, ale poniewaz moga stosowac sie do nich.
* Dlaczego pragnę rzeczy, ktore nie są Bogiem?
* Przestan zadawac sobie pytania, ktore nie maja znaczenia. Albo, jezeli maja znaczenie, znajdziesz, kiedy zajdzie potrzeba, razem pytania i odpowiedzi.
* Jedyny Jego obraz jest w nas wszystkich, i odkrywamy Go, odkrywając podobieństwo Jego obrazu w innych lu- dziach. To nie niszczy różnic między nami, ale te wszystkie przypadłości przestają wiele znaczyć, kiedy przekonamy się, że w rzeczywistości jesteśmy jednym w Jego miłości. Jest wielką Jego chwałą, gdy ludzie cieszą się, znajdując Go w innych - nie drogą wysiłku albo przez ślepe akty wiary, ale doświadczeniem miłości, rozjaśnionej może przez Ma- drość - gdyż jest to kosztowanie i smakowanie Boskiego odbicia w radości, która jest Jego zwierciadłem w duszach,
* To wielka rzecz, kiedy Chrystus, ukryty w duszach a może zmuszony przez świat do ukrywania się obja- wia się niespodziewanie, nieprzewidzianym znakiem swojej obecności. Wtedy dusze rozjaśniają się całe poznaniem Jego i odkrywają Go w sobie, gdy nie wyobrażały sobie nawet, że się gdzieś znajduje.
* Świat, na który irytuję się na papierze, jest byc moze tworem mojej wyobrazni. Jest to psychologiczna gra, w ktora bawilem sie od 10 roku zycia. A jednak wieloma rzeczami w swiecie mozna byc obrzydzonym.
* Bałem się, że cały kościół może runąć mi na głowę, z powodu tego, czym byłem przedtem- jakby to nie było już przebaczone!
* […] wyszedlem z archiwum z przekonaniem, ze pisanie to cos bardzo niskirgo i malo znacznego, i ze ja, ktory niemal identyfikujr sie z pisaniem- jestem tez niski i malo znaczny.
* O co Bog chce, abym Go prosil? Sam mi powie, a kiedy sie dowiem, da mi rowniez to, o co Go prosze.
* Milosc Boza wystarczy, aby ziemie obrocic w niebo. Gdyz Bog jest miloscia, a milosc jest niebem.[…] po mojej pierwszej Mszy Świętej zrozumialem doskonale, po raz pierwszy w zyciu, ze nic nie jest wazne na swiecie, jak tylko kochac Boga i sluzyc Mu z prostota i rafoscia.
* Większosc moich klopotow plynie z pewnego subtelnego braku ubóstwa.
* Boh sprawia, ze najczesciej stawiamy sobie pytania wtedy, kiedy sam chce dac odpowiedz. Daje nam pragnienia, ktore sam tylko moze zaspokoic, wzbudza uzdolnienia, ktore zamierza zrealizowac. Kazdy niepokoj moze byc duchowym brzemieniem, wiodacym do nowych narodzin i mistycznej regeneracji.
* Noszę siebie jak tonę ciężaru.
* Odrzucałem wielkie mozliwosci. A moja niewiernosc Chrystusowi, zamiast uczynic mnie chorym z rozpaczy, tym bardziej rzuca mnie na ślepo w ramiona Jego milosierdzia.
* Bardzo czesto postanawiamy sobie rzeczy dobre, nie dosyc jednak dobre, bo sa tylko naszym pomyslem. O wlasciwej porze Pan Bog faje nam fo zrozumienia, ze z nich rezygnuje na korzyzc rzeczy ovzywiscie lepszych.
* Przez czytanie Pisma Św. Jestem tak odnowiony, ze cala natura dokola odnowila sie ze mna. Blekit nieba wydaje sie czystszy i chlodniejszy, zielen drzew silniej zielona, swiatlo pada ostrzej na zarysy lasow u wzgorz, a caly swiat zajety jest chwałą Bożą i czuję ogień i muzykę w ziemi pod stopami.
* Obojętnie jak prostą może być rozmowa, nigdy nie jest dosc prosta. Obojętnie jak prostą może być myśl, nigdy nie jest dosc prosta. Obojętnie jak prostą może być miłość, nigdy nie jest dosc prosta. Jedyna rzecz, która pozostaje, to prostota duszy w Bogu, albo lepiej- prostota Boga.
* Bie da sie uzywac wielkich slow, mowiac o Chrystusie. Skoro wydaje się, że nie potrafię mowic o Nim jezykiem dziecka, doszedlem do punktu, ze w ogole ledwo mogę mowic o Nim. Wszystkie moje slowa napelniaja mnie wstydem.
* W dzienniku tym opisywałem pokój, nie strach i sądzę, że dobrze zrobilem, bo z biegiem czasu pokoj wzrosl, a strach zniknal. Pokoj byl rzeczywistoscia, a strach byl zludzeniem.
* Być szczerym nie zanudzając. To rodzaj ukrzyżowania, nie bardzo dramatycznt czy bolesny, ale wymaga tyle uczciwości, że jesr to powyżej mojej natury. Musi samo przyjść jakoś od Ducha Świętego.
* A więc żyję tak samotny i nienaruszony pośród świętej piękności wszystkich stworzonych rzeczy, wiedząc, że cokolwiek widzę, słyszę i dotykam, nigdy do mnie należeć nie będzie- zawstydzony moją absurdalną potrzebą oddania się którejś z tych rzeczy, albo wszystkim.
* Tylko dla Boga warto jest żyć, a we mnie grają jeszcze orkiestry, które zagłuszają Jego głos.
* Twoje światło księżyca świeci w moją duszę szeroko otwartą, gdy wszystko milczy.
* Tym razem będę napisany, jestem impresją, która się zmieni.
* Zegar tyka, ale może mimo wszystko nie ma takiej rzeczy, jak czas.
* Matko, uczyń mnie tak szczerym, jak ten obraz. Przez cały czas, do głębi mojej duszy szczerym, szczerym.
* Tak jakbysmy wszyscy odkryli cos nowego do kochania jedni w drugich, cos niewinniejszego i doskonalszego od wszystkiego, cosmy dotąd widzieli.
* Myślę, że musiałem mieć ze sobą jakąś książkę, tak jak on całkiem wyraźnie miał broń. Jedno i drugie składało się na nasze przebranie. Nie wiem, kim on był. Nie byłem całkiem pewny czy sam wiem, kim jestem. W jednym i w drugim wypafku było to bez znaczenia. Nie padł ani jeden strzał. Nie odwróciłem ani jednej kartki książki, którą mogłem mieć za sobą, albo i nie. Ani kropla deszczu nie spadła. Ani ptak nie zaśpiewał. Wygodny jest ten nasz świat bez wiedzy i bez mądrości.
* Gdybyśmy mówili tylko to, co rzeczywiście mamy do powiedzenia, mówilibyśmy bardzo mało.
* Wiele rzeczy głosimy tylko dlatego, ponieważ sądzimy, że ludzir od nas tego oczekują. Milczenie Boga winni nas uczyć kiedy mówić, a kiedy nie mówić. Ale nie możemy znieść myśli o tym milczeniu w obawie, że będzie nas to kosztowało zaufanie i szacunek ludzki.
* I czy nie jest bardziej upokarzające być podzieianym za to, co podziwiają ludzie, niż być pogardzanym za to, co podziwiają aniołowie?
* Potrzebujemy ich (słów) nie tylko dla porozumienia się z innymi, ale i dla porozumienia się z samym sobą, gdyż nie jesteśmy sobą.
* Myślę, że głównym powodem, daczego mamy tak mało radości jest, że bierzemy siebie zbyt serio.
* Jakze moge Cie kochac, kiedy nie wiem kim jestem i kim Ty jesteś? A jak mogę to wiedzieć bez żalu? Jezus, nie chcę mieć więcej nic wspólnego z miłością, która zapomina o wdzięczności.
* I jak to zwykle bywa w Królestwie Niebieskim, wyrzeklwszy sie tego, co chcialem, otrzymalem wiecej nawet, niz moglem pomyslec, ze chcę.
* Czy otworzysz jakieś drzwii na wielki las i przy księżycu wprowadzisz mnie na drabinę i zabierzesz między gwiazdy?
April 1, 2020
I found this book, partly because it is mentioned by several authors I've read recently or in podcasts that I've listened to and partly because I was searching in our public library's online books for Merton books. It took about six weeks on hold to get and I'm generally pleased that I went to the trouble. It is early Merton, written soon after Seven Story Mountain, his spiritual autobiography up to entering Gethsemani Abbey. This picks up his journals afterwards as he worked through his life early in his monastic life. Milestones like becoming a deacon, then priest are featured here as well as his early struggles with a call to being a hermit.
I find early Merton difficult some days. I love his attention to the contemplative life and find it inspiring as he sets out his difficulties and his resolutions. But, while there is so much that I love, I'm not really a Roman Catholic and there are things in here which raises my hackles or I just don't get. That doesn't makes this valueless, but it is a sometimes jarring note for me. That and his self-conscious worries about being a writer not a contemplative.
Yet, this is worth all that because of Merton's honesty and his spiritual wisdom. And it fills in parts of Merton's life which I didn't know. So, worth the time I waited to read it.
I find early Merton difficult some days. I love his attention to the contemplative life and find it inspiring as he sets out his difficulties and his resolutions. But, while there is so much that I love, I'm not really a Roman Catholic and there are things in here which raises my hackles or I just don't get. That doesn't makes this valueless, but it is a sometimes jarring note for me. That and his self-conscious worries about being a writer not a contemplative.
Yet, this is worth all that because of Merton's honesty and his spiritual wisdom. And it fills in parts of Merton's life which I didn't know. So, worth the time I waited to read it.
March 1, 2016
"Fire Watch" is one of the most breathtaking essays I've ever read. It's beautiful.
January 24, 2026
In the midst of the prologue, I wrote the following:
“Merton came to Gethsemani in the belly of a paradox.
What that paradox seems to be is his struggle to get completely rid of his sense of self, and consecrate his life entirely to God. This is what I perceive to be the sign of Jonas. When Jonas was told to go to Nineveh, he was slothful and selfish about it. He did not say much except that God was coming for them. He departed and he was not where he needed to be. It was at this point that he was swallowed by the beast and taken where he needed to be. God intervened.”
After finishing the book, I wrote this:
“The Sign of Jonas is the expectation of the Redeemer because God The Father created us and God The Father is a merciful and just God. His mysteries are so deep that we only begin to scratch their surface by understanding that there is more to God than just The Father.
Our will concerning freedom or captivity, life or death, is manifest in the story of Jonas being swallowed by the whale. Our will swallows itself. Our instincts tell us to live and be free. Our God tells us to die (and be born to eternal life) and live in captivity in His name. This captivity is self-denial. It is recognition that our instinctual nature separates us from God. It is also the obedience to His will, which is higher than ours. Pass His test on earth, and we get to spend eternal life with Him in His Kingdom.
Moreover, the sign of Jonas is the sign that—not our faith, nor our God, nor our calling—are of this world. The world subverts us and will continue to subvert us and this is God’s will; that we live life and die for Him who created us. The need and search for the Redeemer is written everywhere. In the Old Testament and in symbols all over the world.”
I had gotten into this book aiming to uncover some higher etymology on my first name. What I found in its contents was something much greater. My evolving interpretation of the meaning behind the sign of Jonas (the prophet—more commonly known as Jonah, Merton sticking to the Greek/Latin spelling, a true priest and true polyglot) was a gift in and of itself. And as it evolved, it also stayed the same. One of many paradoxes behind the greatest one.
More so than an exploration of paradox as a writing device, it is a profound and powerful exploration of paradox revealed to us by our Creator. The more we minimize ourselves—as Merton discovers throughout his journal entries—the closer we get to God.
In his practice of the virtue of humility, we in tandem follow Merton in his journey from novice, to brother, to deacon, to priest in the Trappist monastery where he lives, works and studies: The Abbey of Our Lady of Gethsemani.
His vocation is inspirational not because he is a captivating writer, but because he is relatable in his quest to consecrate his life entirely to God. Inspiring is his death to himself. Inspiring is his discovery that getting to know his brothers has helped to eliminate his ego, and to love them better.
On a technical/structural level, the parts and entries are structured well. One thing I did not like was the untranslated Latin and French sentences (which albeit rare, sticks out as memorable because when you read a book, you want to read it in full, no?). If you write a book in English, please write it in English!
But although he may have disagreed, Merton was no idiot. I’m sure there was a purpose unbeknownst to me for writing words that a unilingual English speaker can’t understand. And this is a poignant lesson to remember as a Catholic always: that things simply are what they are. It’s not on me to change them or even to complain about them. They just are.
Not my will—O God—but Yours, be done!
“Merton came to Gethsemani in the belly of a paradox.
What that paradox seems to be is his struggle to get completely rid of his sense of self, and consecrate his life entirely to God. This is what I perceive to be the sign of Jonas. When Jonas was told to go to Nineveh, he was slothful and selfish about it. He did not say much except that God was coming for them. He departed and he was not where he needed to be. It was at this point that he was swallowed by the beast and taken where he needed to be. God intervened.”
After finishing the book, I wrote this:
“The Sign of Jonas is the expectation of the Redeemer because God The Father created us and God The Father is a merciful and just God. His mysteries are so deep that we only begin to scratch their surface by understanding that there is more to God than just The Father.
Our will concerning freedom or captivity, life or death, is manifest in the story of Jonas being swallowed by the whale. Our will swallows itself. Our instincts tell us to live and be free. Our God tells us to die (and be born to eternal life) and live in captivity in His name. This captivity is self-denial. It is recognition that our instinctual nature separates us from God. It is also the obedience to His will, which is higher than ours. Pass His test on earth, and we get to spend eternal life with Him in His Kingdom.
Moreover, the sign of Jonas is the sign that—not our faith, nor our God, nor our calling—are of this world. The world subverts us and will continue to subvert us and this is God’s will; that we live life and die for Him who created us. The need and search for the Redeemer is written everywhere. In the Old Testament and in symbols all over the world.”
I had gotten into this book aiming to uncover some higher etymology on my first name. What I found in its contents was something much greater. My evolving interpretation of the meaning behind the sign of Jonas (the prophet—more commonly known as Jonah, Merton sticking to the Greek/Latin spelling, a true priest and true polyglot) was a gift in and of itself. And as it evolved, it also stayed the same. One of many paradoxes behind the greatest one.
More so than an exploration of paradox as a writing device, it is a profound and powerful exploration of paradox revealed to us by our Creator. The more we minimize ourselves—as Merton discovers throughout his journal entries—the closer we get to God.
In his practice of the virtue of humility, we in tandem follow Merton in his journey from novice, to brother, to deacon, to priest in the Trappist monastery where he lives, works and studies: The Abbey of Our Lady of Gethsemani.
His vocation is inspirational not because he is a captivating writer, but because he is relatable in his quest to consecrate his life entirely to God. Inspiring is his death to himself. Inspiring is his discovery that getting to know his brothers has helped to eliminate his ego, and to love them better.
On a technical/structural level, the parts and entries are structured well. One thing I did not like was the untranslated Latin and French sentences (which albeit rare, sticks out as memorable because when you read a book, you want to read it in full, no?). If you write a book in English, please write it in English!
But although he may have disagreed, Merton was no idiot. I’m sure there was a purpose unbeknownst to me for writing words that a unilingual English speaker can’t understand. And this is a poignant lesson to remember as a Catholic always: that things simply are what they are. It’s not on me to change them or even to complain about them. They just are.
Not my will—O God—but Yours, be done!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 25, 2025
A man driven to find God, Thomas Merton was a Trappist monk who entered Gethsemani Abbey in Kentucky in 1941. This journal recorded his thoughts and reflections from 1946, when he made his solemn profession of vows, to 1951, on prayer, silence, contemplation, writing, the Sacraments, and other Catholic rituals. During this period, he published his conversion story, The Seven Story Mountain, was ordained as a priest, and became a U.S. citizen. He also wrote or published Waters of Silo, New Seeds of Contemplations, and The Ascent to Truth. Toward the end of the journal, he emerges as a more senior monk and becomes responsible for the education of junior members of the monastery, as Master of Scholastics.
One reads Merton for his insights, wisdom, beautiful rhetoric, and poetic imagery. As with all journals, the author's entries hop abruptly from one haphazard subject to another and can make for a bumpy reading experience. As in many of his books, he comments on the Benedictine charism and monastic life, from both an experiential and an intellectual perspective. Along the way, he comments on various spiritual books of others and his desire to be a saint. He loves his life in the monastery and cites few struggles. With the enthusiasm of a convert, he can be scrupulous, prideful, or extreme in places.
The monastery grounds occupy 2,600 acres, with knolls, valleys, groupings of trees, a pond, and all the birds, bugs, and animals one would expect. It is also a working farm, with all of the barns and farming equipment to go along with it. Merton was the monastery’s forester and planted tens of thousands of trees. He knew all the different, local species of trees and how to cut, plant, and nurture them. Just think: the trees he planted would be about 75 years old today–huge, mature trees. I liked how Merton distinguished different species of birds by their songs. As one might expect from a contemplative, his observations of nature are subtle, and his descriptions of nature are beautiful and poetic in a way that honor their creator.
Comically, when Merton submitted a draft of The Seven Story Mountain to the order’s censors, they rejected it while telling him he should take a correspondence course in English grammar!
I say “comically” because he is one of the great writers of the 20th century, having published about 75 volumes of prose and a dozen volumes of poetry. The same censor also scolded him for revealing too much of his not-so-saintly life from before he entered the monastery (this was the early 1950s, after all). Rather than giving up or getting angry, Merton chose to view it as a challenge. Long after Merton’s death, it became known publicly that he had fathered a child out of wedlock in England, before entering religious life. In the journal, he subtly hints at this when he expresses a desire to maintain his spiritual virginity.
The title alludes to the quote from Jesus, “no sign will be given it except the sign of Jonah the prophet” (Mt 12:39), a reference to The Book of Jonah. In both the book’s brief epigraph and the lengthy, beautifully soaring meditation which is the epilogue, Merton cites the story of the reluctant prophet Jonah, swallowed by a whale, but then regurgitated, as representative of how he sees himself and his role as a monk, as both a prophet and one of the repentant men of Nineveh.
One reads Merton for his insights, wisdom, beautiful rhetoric, and poetic imagery. As with all journals, the author's entries hop abruptly from one haphazard subject to another and can make for a bumpy reading experience. As in many of his books, he comments on the Benedictine charism and monastic life, from both an experiential and an intellectual perspective. Along the way, he comments on various spiritual books of others and his desire to be a saint. He loves his life in the monastery and cites few struggles. With the enthusiasm of a convert, he can be scrupulous, prideful, or extreme in places.
The monastery grounds occupy 2,600 acres, with knolls, valleys, groupings of trees, a pond, and all the birds, bugs, and animals one would expect. It is also a working farm, with all of the barns and farming equipment to go along with it. Merton was the monastery’s forester and planted tens of thousands of trees. He knew all the different, local species of trees and how to cut, plant, and nurture them. Just think: the trees he planted would be about 75 years old today–huge, mature trees. I liked how Merton distinguished different species of birds by their songs. As one might expect from a contemplative, his observations of nature are subtle, and his descriptions of nature are beautiful and poetic in a way that honor their creator.
Comically, when Merton submitted a draft of The Seven Story Mountain to the order’s censors, they rejected it while telling him he should take a correspondence course in English grammar!
I say “comically” because he is one of the great writers of the 20th century, having published about 75 volumes of prose and a dozen volumes of poetry. The same censor also scolded him for revealing too much of his not-so-saintly life from before he entered the monastery (this was the early 1950s, after all). Rather than giving up or getting angry, Merton chose to view it as a challenge. Long after Merton’s death, it became known publicly that he had fathered a child out of wedlock in England, before entering religious life. In the journal, he subtly hints at this when he expresses a desire to maintain his spiritual virginity.
The title alludes to the quote from Jesus, “no sign will be given it except the sign of Jonah the prophet” (Mt 12:39), a reference to The Book of Jonah. In both the book’s brief epigraph and the lengthy, beautifully soaring meditation which is the epilogue, Merton cites the story of the reluctant prophet Jonah, swallowed by a whale, but then regurgitated, as representative of how he sees himself and his role as a monk, as both a prophet and one of the repentant men of Nineveh.
December 24, 2024
The Sign of Jonas, Merton’s second biographical after the The Seven Story Mountain, focuses on the complexities of calling and absolute silence with God. Contemplation’s can only happen when following God’s call in obedience, according to Merton who writes, “the important thing is not to live for contemplation but to live for God” (30). Desperate need to be seek silence outside of God’s call as a Carthusian self-labels as selfishness. Self-aggrandizement through work also draws one away from God: “The more selfish you are, the more involved life becomes. As usual I have to check my appetite for books and work and keep close to God in prayer. Which is what He wants” (102). Merton synthesizes the two extremes via Jonah and the Whale. He writes “Know that there is in each man a deep will, potentially committed to freedom or captivity, ready to consent to life, born consenting to death, turned inside out, swallowed by its own self, prisoner of itself like Jonas in the whale.”
Merton’s struggle to find solitude even as monk amidst massive amounts of spiritual work indicates the difficulty of the spiritual life in consummating with God, the holy other. Merton, to me, still fails to integrate the practical life of work and unfortunately falls on the contemplative one, at least in this work. Work, faith, and contemplation can only be perfected when they are reliant on one another, not separated and definitely not in dialogue. Merton still seeks silence near the end of his book—he still longs to be in the Whale which needs to die.
Side note, industrialization plays a slight parallel with the increasing complexity of Merton’s religious life. An implicit theme of the work is how to follow God while the world around us causes noise. While Merton longs for simplicity, his exterior world which he escaped to is constantly changing.
Personally, I walk away from this book happier than after reading The Seven Story Mountain. Merton’s plain writing style and devout adoration of scholastic and mystical teaching refreshes the soul. Also, he cracks a few jokes. I would recommend this book to those struggling with contemplation an calling.
Merton’s struggle to find solitude even as monk amidst massive amounts of spiritual work indicates the difficulty of the spiritual life in consummating with God, the holy other. Merton, to me, still fails to integrate the practical life of work and unfortunately falls on the contemplative one, at least in this work. Work, faith, and contemplation can only be perfected when they are reliant on one another, not separated and definitely not in dialogue. Merton still seeks silence near the end of his book—he still longs to be in the Whale which needs to die.
Side note, industrialization plays a slight parallel with the increasing complexity of Merton’s religious life. An implicit theme of the work is how to follow God while the world around us causes noise. While Merton longs for simplicity, his exterior world which he escaped to is constantly changing.
Personally, I walk away from this book happier than after reading The Seven Story Mountain. Merton’s plain writing style and devout adoration of scholastic and mystical teaching refreshes the soul. Also, he cracks a few jokes. I would recommend this book to those struggling with contemplation an calling.
May 15, 2024
I read this collection of self-curated journal entries from Merton over the course of a few years, picking up the last few months. It's interesting to see his thought develop in this way, especially because there are passages in this that seem like they would go against his more famous later works, in their rigidity of Catholic dogma and Catholic ecclesiology. A good chunk of this book is his ordination to the priesthood, and so many things he says about priests in that section he will later say with more clarity about all of Christians, and to some degree, humanity. This is similar to some of the passages in Seven Storey Mountain that have a surprising rigidity to them, as we all often have in our younger years of our spiritual journey, where the tradition that brought us to God MUST be the most if not only correct one. The final third of this book, and the passages sprinkled throughout, where he wrestles with his desire to write while being a monk with vows of silence and poverty, are the passages I found myself re-reading and adapting the most to my own life. I too struggle with wanting to be a writer or artist more generally, while also denying ego for the more deeply human aspects of life and vocation, namely relationships, connection, and marriage (a literal 'vocation' in Catholic teaching). This book is more akin to poetry than ideas in that way, showing and illuminating the struggle to find beauty, despite the struggle to exist, rather than teachings or ideas that feel more like conclusions. There are little conclusions to draw from this book, other than the need to struggle through the pilgrimage of our own life and uncertain vocation. Ironically, this is also how my view of Scripture itself has pivoted the last few years, taking on a paradigm of poetic truths rather than dogmatic ones. Poetry of beauty within the struggle rather than conclusions. I will likely revisit some passages of the book in the future, although I would struggle to recommend this to someone who does not already have a deep love and fascination with Merton.
December 22, 2019
I first discovered this book just six months before the author died. While his journey and circumstances were never mine (I am a non-Catholic woman, so it is unlikely that I would ever enter a Trappist monastery), I found his description of both everyday life mixed with spiritual contemplative thoughts to be both challenging and comforting.
My favorite chapter is the last one, Fire Watch July 4 1952. That piece of writing can stand on its own.
I have lost track of the number of times I have read this book in the 50+ years since I first discovered it. To mention that pages threaten to fall out of it as I read it, is just another mention of the esteem in which I hold this book.
My favorite chapter is the last one, Fire Watch July 4 1952. That piece of writing can stand on its own.
I have lost track of the number of times I have read this book in the 50+ years since I first discovered it. To mention that pages threaten to fall out of it as I read it, is just another mention of the esteem in which I hold this book.
March 23, 2017
Merton casually
I have long been a fan of Thomas Merton's work since I read a collection of his works as a teenager....his deep introspection and poignant observations on spirituality spoke to my soul. This work offers a different view of the man. Although it still contains much of the depth of thought Merton is known for, there is a lot of the day to day, humdrum, often humorous insight into the life of a monk included as well. Definitely worth reading if you've enjoyed any of his other work.
I have long been a fan of Thomas Merton's work since I read a collection of his works as a teenager....his deep introspection and poignant observations on spirituality spoke to my soul. This work offers a different view of the man. Although it still contains much of the depth of thought Merton is known for, there is a lot of the day to day, humdrum, often humorous insight into the life of a monk included as well. Definitely worth reading if you've enjoyed any of his other work.
May 30, 2017
It is a vastly different book from the "Seven Storey Mountain" and it is puzzling for someone outside of monastic community to appreciate the different flow of life, the frustration of lack of solitude and the joy of silence. However, the authenticity of Merton speaks, no matter how strange his life as a monk and a contemplative. This is a book full of otherness, with only a tread linking the Merton in SSM and the Merton in Gethsmani Abbey. One wonders the call of Spirit manifested in Merton and changed him several times over.
March 21, 2020
Merton created a series of books, selecting specific entries from his daily journals. This is the first of those books. It's nice to know that he selected these particular journal entries himself, because he felt they were most important to be shared. It is good to read the entries as one's personal devotional each day. They help you to reflect on your own experiences and growth. Only at the end does it become apparent why the book is entitled 'The Sign of Jonas.' i felt the best was saved for last.
October 13, 2021
A most enthralling read with various nuggets of spiritual insights throughout. Merton does it again, recounting his time in the Our Lady of Gethsemani and his day-to-day happenings as well as fascinating spiritual insights.
Though more tedious than Merton's Seven Story Mountain, one shouldn't lose heart as Merton dazzles us with his distinct style of writing, the beauties and insights of contemplation.
Though more tedious than Merton's Seven Story Mountain, one shouldn't lose heart as Merton dazzles us with his distinct style of writing, the beauties and insights of contemplation.
Read
November 3, 2022"Do you suppose I have a spiritual life? I have none, I am indigence, I am silence, I am poverty, I am solitude, for I have renounced spirituality to find God, and He it is who preaches loud in the depths of my indigence, saying: 'I will pour out my spirit upon my children and they will spring up among the herbs as willows besides the running waters.'"
Merton's writing, personality, and spiritual journey remain uniquely resonant to me.
Merton's writing, personality, and spiritual journey remain uniquely resonant to me.
July 28, 2024
Interesting but at times tedious
The Sign of Jonas picks up where The Seven Storey Mountain left off. Merton has been in the monastery for several years. He records his spiritual journey, which at times can be tedious. His Catholicism is quite evident. He prays to Saints, and to Mary. He also gives the reader insights into the monastic life. This book isn't for everyone; it make some patience to get through it.
The Sign of Jonas picks up where The Seven Storey Mountain left off. Merton has been in the monastery for several years. He records his spiritual journey, which at times can be tedious. His Catholicism is quite evident. He prays to Saints, and to Mary. He also gives the reader insights into the monastic life. This book isn't for everyone; it make some patience to get through it.
February 8, 2025
This was my first Thomas Merton book and I didn’t realize upon selecting it that this was his journal. I likely would’ve appreciated it more had I read some of his other books first (which I plan to do). I’m not sure I had the proper context in place to really feel engaged in his journals. That being said, I have always been oddly envious of the monastic life, so I appreciated hearing more about the day to day, year to year thoughts and happenings of a monk.
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