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FOR MANY YEARS I HAVE KEPT QUIET ABOUT HAVING KNOWN THOMAS MERTON.MY REASONS WERE SIMPLE,TOO MANY PEOPLE HAVE CAPITALIZED ON THAT TOO MANY TIMES. I HAD NO DISSERTATION TO WRITE,NO BOOK TO SELL,SO WHY JOIN THAT CROWD? BUT THE FURTHER WE GET FROM DEC. 10,1968,THE MORE MYTHOLOGIZED TOM BECOMES AND THE MORE I WANT TO VOMIT.WHAT'S NEXT,LITTLE PLASTIC 'MERTONS' ON THE DASHBOARDS OF OUR CARS? SO HERE IS MY TWO CENTS,MAYBE EVEN 2 PAGES WORTH:I ARRIVED AT GETHSEMANI AT 21,YOUNG,DUMB BUT HARDLY NAIVE.LIKE MANY OF MY ERA,HEHAD BEENMY INSPIRATION. LITTLE DID I KNOW THAT HE WAS HIMSELF TURNED OFF GETHSEMANI LIFE BY THEN.i HAD HEARD HE HAD A HERMITAGE BUT I KNEW THAT WAS LARGELY A "DEAL" OF THE GREAT WHEELER/DEALER,DOM JAMES FOX TO KEEP HIS GOLDEN-EGG -LAYING -GOOSE AROUND.BETWEEN TOM'S BOOKS AND DOM JAMES' BUSINESS ACUMEN,GETHSEMANI BECAME FAMOUS THEN AND MORESO NOW.ABOUT MY SECOND DAY,I WAS GETTING SOMETHING OUT OF THE WALK-IN FREEZER IN THE BASEMENT COMPLEX THAT HOUSES THE KITCHEN OPERATIONS FOR COMMUNITY AND GUESTS.WALKING OUT OF IT THAT JANUARY DAY,I MUMBLED TO MYSELF,"FUCK! IT'S COLD." I HEARD A SNICKER,WE WERE MUCH MORE SILENT IN THOSE DAYS,I SHOULD NOT HAVE EVEN THOUGHT THAT OUTLOUD. THE SOURCE OF THE SNICKER LOOKED LIKE AN ELF WITH A TWINKLE IN HIS EYE AND A BIG GRIN. THAT WAS MY "INTRODUCTION" TO FR. LOUIS MERTON." NO DOUBT I BLUSHED AND HE KEPT ON AT HIS RAPID PACE TOWARD THE GUESTHOUSE TO GET HIS MAIL.AFTER THAT I GAVE UP ALL HOPE OF EVER MEETING MY MENTOR PERSONALLY.HOWEVER AS I BEGAN TO TAKE BOOKS OUT OF THE FABULOUS LIBRARY GETHSEMANI HOUSES,THE WORD GOT AROUND WHAT KIND OF TASTE I HAD.A YOUNG MONK STILL VERY MUCH ALIVE AND STILL A CISTERCIAN COMPLETED THE LOOP FOR ME AND I GOT TO GO UP TO THE OFTEN 'HALLOWED'HERMITAGE. IT WAS ANOTHER COLD WINTER AFTERNOON AND AS WE APPROACHED,THE SOUNDS OF STAN GETZ ON THE SAX HIT MY EARS. I WAS STARVED FOR MUSIC,'WORLDY' MUSIC.IT WAS COMING OUT OF"UNCLE LOUIE'S" PLACE! AFTER INTROS WE TALKED CAMUS,FLANNERY O"CONNOR AND MARITAIN,A PERSONAL LONGTIME FRIEND OF HIS.I HAVE ALWAYS BEEN BRASH AND BOLD SO I TOLD HIM I THOUGHT MARITAIN WAS ACTING LIKE A THROWBACK IN THE FACE OF VATICAN II AND THAT HENRI LUBAC WAS WORSE. HE TRIED TO HELP ME SEE WHERE JACQUES WAS COMING FROM AND I SAID I WOULD PONDER THE INPUT FOR A WHILE.HUMILITY HAS NEVER BEEN ONE OF MY MANY WEAKNESSES.FR.LOUIS HAD A WAY OF PUTTING ONE AT EASE SO MUCH THAT WITHIN 5 MIN. HE WAS JUST ANOTHER MONK I WAS HAVING A DEBATE WITH.IN THOSE DAYS,WE WERE ALL GREAT DEBATERS;EVERYTHING WAS UP FOR GRABS FOR'DIALOGUE' IN THE LATE 60'S.NOBODY HAD THE LAST WORD,NOT EVEN MY MENTOR.THEN WE SWITCHED TO THE VIET NAM ISSUE,MY INVOLVEMENT IN ANTI-WAR ACTIVITIES,NOT ALWAYS OF THE NON-VIOLENT KIND;THE RACE ISSUE AND TALKED ABOUT PEOPLE WE BOTH KNEW IN DR. KINGS ORGANIZATION.FINALLY WE GOT AROUND TO THE HERMIT LIFE VIS-A-VIS THE CENOBITIC LIFE.I TOLD HIM FRANKLY THAT A TOTAL COMMUNITY LIFE WOULD NOT APPEAL TO ME IF THERE WERE NOT A HERMITAGE SOMEWHERE IN SITE AT LEAST FOR CERTAIN PERIODS OF TIME.HE JUST LISTENED AND IT WAS HIS TURN TO PONDER.TODAY ALL MERTON AFFICIANADOS KNOW HIS LAST SPEECH GIVEN IN BANGKOK. I GOT THE "ROUGH DRAFT" OF IT THAT DAY VERBALLY.IT WAS A BIT UPSETTING BUT HAD SO MUCH THE RING OF REALITY THAT I HAD NO ARGUMENT.END OF FIRST CONVERSATION.NO CLIFFHANGER...THAT WOULD BE A CHEAP SHOT. "STAY TUNED",HOWEVER FOR PAGE 2 |
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