Dear Cynthia: I am reading Thomas Keating: The Making of a Modern Christian Mystic with great eagerness and excitement. Thank you so much for this work on Thomas; we met on several occasions and he wrote to me at least once, as well as he was my “guest master” as he put it, in 1984, when I stayed at St. Benedict’s in Snowmass.
My question is: is the story Thomas tells – or image he offers – on pp 12-13 of Invitation to Love, a veiled description of himself (and perhaps Thomas Merton – a composite story) from his early years and ascetical phase at St. Joseph’s in Spencer? I am preparing a talk on “The Five Last Words of the Two Thomases”, and want to use some early image of Thomas for an illustration.
With affection and gratitude to you, Rev. Len
Hi Len,
The answer is basically “yes.” In fact, if you flip over to page 14, you’ll see he acknowledges this directly. But his warning “minus the macho man” is real. The story itself is entirely made up and wildly exaggerated, like deliberately putting himself in a sit-com. He is simply creating a humorous yarn to make his point. But in the mirror of his exaggeration you can see the degree of his excessive asceticism and spiritual pride, and the story that follows in that next chapter of wishing for the death of one of his smug young colleagues who seems to be besting him in asceticism is absolutely realistic and most likely 100% true. That would be the one to focus on if you’re wanting a literal vignette.
And yes, Merton pokes fun at himself later as well, as does Monica Furlong, one of his best biographers, who notices that on the page in 7 story mountain where he describes finally entering the monastery for good, the word “white” appears about a half dozen times on a single page…. was he running toward or running from? Maybe a bit of both. Both Thomases came to see this in themselves, grow beyond it, and forgive themselves wryly.
All best, Cynthia