Thoughts in Solitude

Rating:
Summary: a contemplative gem....
Review: ....written about solitude and the spiritual life in the form of a series of meditations. Like all his work, written with wisdom, humility, and grace.

Rating:
Summary: a contemplative gem....
Review: ....written about solitude and the spiritual life in the form of a series of meditations. Like all his work, written with wisdom, humility, and grace.

Rating:
Summary: Great thoughts on the spiritual life and solitude.
Review: Even though the contents of this book were written in 1953-54, the thoughts here are most appropriate today if one seeks to understand solitude as it relates to the spiritual life. Merton's thoughts about the desert, one's spiritual life, the sacraments, prayer, the Church, books and reading, and silence will make one evaluate one's relationship with God.The book is divided into two sections. One is the aspects of the spiritual life, and the other section is the love of solitude. One conclusion Meron makes in the first section is found in the following words: "The solution of the problem of life is life itself. Life is not attained by reasoning and analysis, but first of all by living" (page 78).The spiritual life is a journey. In the second section, Merton has some challenging thoughts on solitude. It seems that every Christian desires solitude from time to time. Merton writes, "We put words between ourselves and things. Even God has become another conceptual unreality in a no-man's land of language that no longer serves as a means of communion with reality" (page 85).THOUGHTS IN SOLITUDE is a brief book compared to many of Merton's other books, however, this is one of his best. It will make you think, and it will probably make you evaluate your Christian walk with God. As Merton writes, "Do not flee to solitude from the community. Find God first in the community,then He will lead you to solitude." This is a book worth reading.

Rating:
Summary: Your life is shaped by the end you live for
Review: Ever get that feeling that you're just going through the motions of being a Christian. You got your doctrines right. You got the prayer lists and plenty of ministry opportunities yet....... Am I part of a club? Is being a Christian like an occupation? Are there expectations placed on me by other Christians on what a Chirstian should do, think, feel?
Merton goes against the grain. He brings simpliciy back to one's thoughts. Do I have a relationship with God like I have with others? Do I long to talk to HIm, to be with HIm? to listen? Is God my Father and Friend and "Husband" or is He the cosmic Boy Scout passing out prayer badges, bible reading badges? How do people like me encounter Jesus? Merton compares Christ to lightning:" There are many who have sought Him and not found Him. To catch Him is as easy as catching lightning. And like lightning, He strikes where He pleases. There is no technique for finding Him. We find Him by His will."
For us folks in the 8-5 workplace, busy as bees,How can I be alone with Jesus? Merton replies;" As soon as I am fully disposd to be alone with God, I am alone with God no matter where I may be- in the country, the monastery, the woods, the city. The Lightning flashes, and God flashes in the depths of my soul. Although I am a traveler in time, I have opened my eyes, for a moment, in eternity.
I found some solace in the fact that though I am seeking God, Merton reminds me that God reveals HImself according to HIs plan and timing: "As long as I am content to know that He is infinitely greater than I, and that I cannot know Him unless He shows Himself to me, I will have peace.... You do not wait for me to become great before You will be with me and hear me and answer me, ...if I were not a mere man, a mere human being capable of all mistakes and of all evil, I would not be capable of being Your son."" Also, in my quest for solitude with Jesus, Merton reminds me: "Gratitude is the heart of the solitary life"
Finally, as I continually strive and yet fail to get closer to Him ,as I continually disobey with my wayward thoughts Merton adds these words of comfort: "It is necessary that I be human and remain human in order that the Cross of Christ be not made void. Jesus died not for the angels but for men."

Rating:
Summary: Short, But Not Light Reading.
Review: I bought THOUGHTS IN SOLITUDE because over the years I have become impressed with Thomas Merton's writings and because of a prayer that appears in Chapter II of Part Two of this book; the prayer was given to me several years ago and has become one I have prayed often. Merton makes it clear at the beginning that THOUGHTS IN SOLITUDE is not a book that everyone will enjoy or even learn from. The book is simply a collection of some of Merton's writings and prayers about living the life he was called to live; a life lived in solitude. The writings that make up this book are quite short. However, they are not light reading. In order to get the gist of what Merton was writing about and to allow the text to really soak into my conscious, I found myself having to re-read sections many times. I found the first section of the book to be more applicable to my life than much of what was written about in the second section, but there are some very useful bits there, too (the prayer I mentioned, for instance). I took a lot away from this book and it helped me revaluate the importance that solitude has in my spiritual life.

Rating:
Summary: Quite a handful...
Review: I was surprised and delighted to find this is a book that is small enough to fit in the palm of your hand. As such it is an ideal size to carry in the pocket, to read at any opportunity, to reflect, to consider,... and may I add a warning to the thoughtful, because of its insights, a danger to read in a public place. Profound in its simplicity, pointed, honest, concise, an excellent learning tool as we walk the Way of Christ. Highly recommended. This book will stay with me for life.

Rating:
Summary: Quite a handful...
Review: I was surprised and delighted to find this is a book that is small enough to fit in the palm of your hand. As such it is an ideal size to carry in the pocket, to read at any opportunity, to reflect, to consider,... and may I add a warning to the thoughtful, because of its insights, a danger to read in a public place. Profound in its simplicity, pointed, honest, concise, an excellent learning tool as we walk the Way of Christ. Highly recommended. This book will stay with me for life.

Rating:
Summary: Empowers Faithful to Value Solitude
Review: Merton lays this book out into two distinct sections. The first is a discussion of the Christian life, and the second is the application to the life of solitude. Connection to God is probably the largest running theme through out and what Merton does beautifully is encourages a life with God that is not exclusive, but makes the most of moments where it is just a person and God.

What this book did for me is redefine lonliness vs solitude, as well as encourage me to look for positive opportunities to retreat to God for peace.

Rating:
Summary: too christian
Review: Merton, ususally cross-denominational in his approach, to the point of often interpreting Zen and other religions outside his backgound (at which is he very good), is for too entrenched in Christian jargon in this one, and has less to say. But how can anyone resist these cute, tiny, inexpensive little books? I have a about a couple of dozen of them!

Rating:
Summary: Great wisdom if you are ready
Review: The title of this book derives from 1953/54 when Merton was able to enjoy special opportunities for solitude and meditation; the contents of this book are thoughts on the contemplative life and fundamental intuitions that seemed, at that time, to have importance. As such, the chapters do not necessarily relate to one another and are, as the title suggests, a collection of thoughts while in solitude. "It is quite likely that intuitions which seem to be most vital to the writer will not have much importance for others, who do not have the same kind of vocation." For the writer, these reflections on man's solitude before God and man's dialogue with God in silence are essential to his monastic way of life. It is a counterbalance to totalitarianism and the murderous din of materialism that must not be allowed to silence the voices of the Christian Saints, Oriental sages like Lao-Tse or the Zen Masters or Thoreau, Martin Buber or Max Picard. "What is said here about solitude is not just a recipe for hermits. It has a bearing on the whole future of man and of his world and especially, of course, on the future of his religion." Part I is composed of 19 thoughts on aspects of the spiritual life; part II of 18 thoughts on the love of solitude

The desert, supremely valuable to God because it has no value to men, is the logical dwelling place for the solitary with nothing between himself and his Creator. But as man has moved into the desert for testing nuclear weapons or building casinos, the desert moves elsewhere. The new desert is despair.

All temperaments can serve as material for ruin or for salvation; if we make our temperament serve us we can do better than another who serves his temperament. The things we love tell what we are. A man who sins but does not love his sin is not a sinner in the full sense of the word. Even if we are temperamentally inclined to anger, we are still free not to be angry. We are free to desire either good or evil. Too many ascetics fail to become saints because their rules and ascetic practices have merely deadened humanity instead of setting it free to develop richly, in all its capacities.

Jesus had a clear vision of God but experienced our human emotions of affection, pity, sorrow, happiness, pleasure, grief, indignation, wonder, weariness, anxiety, fear, consolation and peace. If we are without human feelings we cannot love God as we are meant to love Him - as men.

Our five senses are chilled by inordinate pleasure. Penance cleans the senses and gives them back their vitality. Lack of self-denial and self discipline is the cause of mediocrity of much devotional art, much pious writing, many sentimental prayers and many religious lives. "Some men turn away from all this cheap emotion with a kind of heroic despair, and seek God in a desert where the emotions can find nothing to sustain them. But this too can be an error. For if our emotions really die in the desert, our humanity dies with them. We must return from the desert like Jesus or St. John with our capacity for feeling expanded and deepened, strengthened against appeals of falsity, warned against temptation, great, noble, pure."

No amount of technological progress will cure the hatred that eats away the vitals of materialistic society like a spiritual cancer. The only cure is spiritual.

A purely mental life may be destructive if it leads us to substitute thoughts for life, ideas for action. Our destiny is to live out what we think. It is only by making our knowledge part of ourselves, through action, that we enter into reality.

Real self-conquest is the conquest of ourselves by the Holy Spirit. Self-conquest is really self-surrender.

Laziness and cowardice are two of the greatest enemies of the spiritual life and they are most dangerous when masked as discretion. The problem is that discretion is one of the most important virtues.

"Why should I want to be rich, when you were poor? Why should I desire to be famous and powerful in the eyes of men, when the sons of those who exalted the false prophets and stoned the True rejected You and nailed You to the Cross? Why should I cherish in my heart a hope that devours me - the hope for perfect happiness in this life - when such hope, doomed to frustration, is nothing but despair?"

Thomas Merton has great wisdom to pass on to us if we are ready to receive it.