We are living in the ‘information age’. Fifty years ago, we had only telephone, telegraph, television, radio and record-players. Now, there are computers, email, smart-phones, I-pods and social networking. Then, we had Vietnam and the Cold war. Now, we have Afghanistan, Syria, Mali and Al Kaeda. Then, deforestation: now, global warming. How might we wisely adapt to such rapid change and development? How can we avoid the risks of becoming a collection of superficial and distracted consumers of instant messages and images?
Two recent books draw on the work of Thomas Merton for guidance and inspiration. Merton was not against progress. Far from it; but he always sounded a sensible note of caution, as in, “Technology must serve humankind. The well-being of people must take precedence over efficiency and outputs”.
Thomas Merton (1915 – 1968) was a monk of the Cistercian Abbey of Our Lady of Gethsemani in rural Kentucky. After education in France, England and New York, and a turbulent adolescence, he entered the monastery at the age of twenty-six, to later become one of the most influential spiritual writers of his generation.
Merton recognized, “There is no escaping technology”, but advocates giving priority to wisdom, to simplicity over complexity, to contemplation over ‘busy-ness’, to spiritual over material values, to silence, solitude and stillness. He says, “We do not know if we are building a fabulously wonderful world or destroying all that we have ever had, all that we have achieved!” and speaks of people as becoming, “Bewildered and disorientated by the fabulous versatility of the machines we have created”, at the risk of being, “Interiorly empty, spiritually lost”.
Never negative, Merton counsels against despair, and warns against taking ourselves too seriously. All we must try and do, he says, is foster a kind of loving spiritual awareness and live our lives accordingly. “In my opinion, the job… is to try to give an example of sanity, independence, human integrity, good sense, as well as… love and wisdom, against all establishments and all mass movements and all current fashions which are merely mindless and hysterical… As for the big results, they are not in your hands or mine, but they can suddenly happen, and we can share in them… The real hope… is not in something we think we can do, but in God who is making something good out of it in some way we cannot see.”
You may prefer ‘humanity’, or ‘a benevolent universe’, or some other term that implies something over-arching, sacred and whole instead of ‘God’ in that sentence. The point is, I think, that we all benefit from faith in something bigger and better organized than ourselves.
Merton’s books, poetry, essays, letters and lectures fill over seventy volumes. Compilations, commentaries and other books about him are legion. You can buy CD’s of many lectures he gave to novice monks in his charge, and there are Thomas Merton societies flourishing in many countries. Although he wrote primarily for Christians, his Christianity was highly compatible with all other major world faiths, in which he took great interest.
If you do not feel ready to go directly to the source, I can recommend Thomas Merton: Twentieth-Century Wisdom for Twenty-First Century Living, by Paul Dekar (Lutterworth Press, 2012) and Returning to Reality: Thomas Merton’s Wisdom for a Technological Age, by Phillip Thompson (Lutterworth Press, 2013). Both authors explore Merton’s take on progress, technology and the threat of nuclear apocalypse. As well as giving an excellent brief biography of Merton and general overview of his thinking, Dekar’s longer book also explores this prophetic monk’s views on the complexities of modern life, and how to negotiate them, in more detail.
Dekar reminds us that Merton strongly emphasized the value of dialogue between spiritual brothers and sisters from all backgrounds, not just in superficial conversation, but through thoroughly respecting and embracing each other with affection, compassion and love. So, in conjunction with individual moral and spiritual development, he recommends seeking out like-minded others and forming new communities in a monastic spirit. Thanks to computers and the internet, members need not necessarily live together. They can retain contact on-line and meet occasionally (such as at conferences and organized retreats). This would be one way of making very good use of technology. Undoubtedly, if you think about it, there must be many others.
Copyright Larry Culliford
Larry’s books include‘The Psychology of Spirituality’,‘Love, Healing & Happiness’ and (as Patrick Whiteside) ‘The Little Book of Happiness’ and ‘Happiness: The 30 Day Guide’ (personally endorsed by HH The Dalai Lama).