Thomas Merton and prayer

SIMPLY MERTON: Wisdom from His Journals

 

(2015 is the 100th anniversary of the birth of the famous Trappist, Thomas Merton.  The following excerpt is from this new book named above that was just published on Thomas Merton by Linus Mundy.)

 

 

It seems an understatement, and rather trite to say it, but Merton believed in the power of prayer.   He believed, along with thousands, if not millions of others, that prayer can bring benefits of healing,  transformation,  grace, conversion, and perhaps even freedom from want itself.   He firmly believed, as do many, that when individuals pray, when families and communities pray,  God answers those prayers in a loving manner.   On numerous occasions he expresses the sentiment that if it were not for the fervent prayers of whole communities -- like the Trappists,  the Franciscans,  large communities of sisters and brothers and priests,  and small ones as well -- the world would slip off into the realm of darkness and despair and ruin.

 

In a letter he wrote to Sufi scholar, Ch. Abdul Aziz,  Merton described his method of contemplation:  "It is not 'thinking about' anything, but a direct seeking of the face of the invisible, which cannot be found unless we become lost in him who is invisible."

 

He realized in his later years especially that contemplation was about self-emptying and freedom from self-awareness.  This was the path to an infinite relationship with God.

 

We make the whole thing too complicated, he keeps implying:    "It's a risky thing to pray, and the danger is that our very prayers get between God and us.  The great thing in prayer is not to pray, but to go directly to God.  If saying your prayers is an obstacle to prayer,  cut it out.  Let Jesus pray.   Thank God Jesus is praying.  Forget yourself.  Enter into the prayer of Jesus.  Let him pray in you.   (The 'Jesus Prayer' is the best way to forget that you are praying.  But don't take away from weak people the crutches they need.)    The best way to pray is:   stop.   Let prayer pray within you, whether you know it or not ..."