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VCA

​TH 346H–01 
Thomas Merton: Monk, Writer, Spiritual Master

Creative Expression in the Style of Thomas Merton 
Patricia Sharbaugh, Ph.D.  \  
Spring 2021

Thomas Merton (1915-1968) was an American Cistercian monk who lived out his monastic calling at the Abbey of Our Lady of Gethsemani in Trappist, Kentucky. While best known for his spiritual writing, Merton was also a poet, a mystic, a social activist, an individual who studied and was in conversation with people of other faith traditions, and an artist. Merton’s wide variety of interests were highly focused because he approached often divergent disciplines through the single lens of contemplation, his desire to nurture an awakened and faithful heart open to knowing and loving God.

The Spring 2021 Honor’s course, TH 346H-01: Thomas Merton: Monk, Writer, Spiritual Master explored Merton’s life and thought primarily through his writing but was enhanced by an interdisciplinary approach that included the study of Merton’s artistic practices. As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to affect millions throughout the world, Merton's reverence for often overlooked beauty and the monastic practice of solitude take on new relevance. 
The photographs and writing displayed here are the fruit of a semester-long study and reflection on Merton’s contemplative vision of life as meaning hidden in plain sight.

Zachary Choby

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Joseph Choby

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Elise Debrot

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Madison Hill

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Ethan Kammerer

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Colten McCutcheon

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Kristin McNeely

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Instead of looking for God in the spectacular sunset, the breathtaking view or in a sacred space, or in some preconceived way, we have to stop and see God in the ordinary, everyday things of our life; we have to learn to see God in the present moment. The Rule of St. Benedict teaches the monk to find God in the ordinary and commonplace, in the monotony of the life. Benedict instructs his monks to treat all the property of the monastery as if they are the sacred vessels of the altar and, I would suggest, the whole world around us. The Church Fathers called this intuition of the Divine through the reflection of God in nature “natural contemplation” – theoria physike. The mindfulness to see in this way allows us to discover the hidden wholeness, the spark of God in creation.

- Paul M. Pearson, Ph.D.
director and archivist / Thomas Merton Center / Bellarmine University, Louisville, Kentucky

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