Book description
Nature was always vital in Thomas Merton's life, from the long hours he
spent as a child watching his father paint landscapes in the fresh air,
to his final years of solitude in the hermitage at Our Lady of
Gethsemani, where he contemplated and wrote about the beauty of his
surroundings. Throughout his life, Merton's study of the natural world
shaped his spirituality in profound ways, and he was one of the first
writers to raise concern about ecological issues that have become
critical in recent years. In The Environmental Vision of Thomas Merton,
author Monica Weis suggests that Merton's interest in nature, which
developed significantly during his years at the Abbey of Gethsemani,
laid the foundation for his growing environmental consciousness. Tracing
Merton's awareness of the natural world from his childhood to the final
years of his life, Weis explores his deepening sense of place and desire
for solitude, his love and responsibility for all living things, and his
evolving ecological awareness. Monica Weis, a Sister of St. Joseph, is
professor of English at Nazareth College in Rochester, New York. She is
the author of Thomas Merton's Gethsemani: Landscapes of Paradise, a
nonfiction finalist in the 2005 Kentucky Literary Awards. She lives in
Rochester, New York.
