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Through image, word, and poetry, this presentation explores Merton's encounter with the biblical Wisdom tradition, the prophetic remembrance of God in a feminine key. How and why should the remembrance of God as Wisdom-Sophia shape our grasp of, and response to, the crises of our times?
Christopher Pramuk is the author of Sophia: The Hidden Christ of Thomas Merton, and At Play in Creation: Merton's Awakening to the Feminine Divine. He holds the University Chair of Ignatian Thought and Imagination at Regis University in Denver, and currently serves as the Vice President of the International Thomas Merton Society.
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William Shannon described Merton’s correspondence with Etta Gullick as “the most charming set of all,” and yet she is little known in the United States and under-represented in studies of Merton and spirituality. After briefly introducing Mrs. Gullick, her work, and their correspondence and respective roles in priestly/monastic formation work, we will consider their exchange on “progress” in contemplative prayer. Those zealous for homework will find Merton’s letters to Gullick in William H. Shannon (ed.), The Hidden Ground of Love: The Letters of Thomas Merton on Religious Experience and Social Concerns (Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 1985).
Bonnie Thurston resigned a Chair and Professorship in New Testament to live quietly in her home state of West Virginia. She is author or editor of 22 theological works and six collections of poetry, and frequently contributes to scholarly and popular periodicals. Bonnie wrote an early doctoral dissertation on Merton and was a founding member and past president of the ITMS. She has published over 50 articles on Merton and given retreats and lectured on his ideas in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Ireland, and Europe. She edited Thomas Merton and Buddhism (2007), Hidden in the Same Mystery: Thomas Merton and Loretto (2010), and Thomas Merton on Eastern Meditation (2012) and wrote Shaped by the End You Live For: Thomas Merton’s Monastic Spirituality (2020). Her work on Merton has been translated into Dutch, German, Italian, Japanese, and Spanish. Bonnie is an avid walker, gardener, cook, and lover of classical music.
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This presentation offers a look at the shared insights and important challenges that Merton's writings on racism and racial justice and the contemporary Black Lives Matter movement offer to contemporary women and men of good will, especially those who are white. In many ways, Merton was ahead of his time as he critically analyzed the realities of systemic racism and white privilege in America during the Civil Rights movement. His writings and legacy continue to offer us spiritual grounding for the continued fight for racial justice in our own time.
Daniel P. Horan, OFM, is the Duns Scotus Chair of Spirituality at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, a columnist for National Catholic Reporter, and the author of twelve books including The Franciscan Heart of Thomas Merton (2014). He is currently serving his fourth term on the ITMS Board of Directors and is on the editorial board of The Merton Annual. His forthcoming books include the tentatively titled Striving Toward Authenticity: Engaging Thomas Merton on Race, Justice, and Spirituality (Orbis Books) and he is editing for publication the correspondence of Thomas Merton and Naomi Burton Stone.
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Frida Berrigan is a New London-based activist and writer. She has written on climate change, sustainability, gun control, and non-violent activism for The Nation and TomsDispatch, and she writes the Little Insurrections blog for WagingNonViolence.org. She is the author of It Runs in the Family: On Being Raised by Radicals and Growing into Rebellious Motherhood.
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Eric Martin is co-editor of The Berrigan Letters: Personal Correspondence Between Daniel and Philip Berrigan and a doctoral candidate in theology at Fordham University, where he is working on a theological biography of Dan Berrigan before the Catonsville action using his unpublished letters. He has worked with the Catholic Worker and the anti-white supremacy movement in Charlottesville.
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Anna J. Brown is Chair of the political science department and Director of the social justice program at Saint Peter's University. She co-founded the University's Center for Undocumented Students. Along with James L. Marsh, she co-edited and contributed to the book, Faith, Resistance, and the Future: Daniel Berrigan's Challenge to Catholic Social Thought. She is a member of the Kairos peace community, which was co-founded by Daniel Berrigan, S.J., and has participated in numerous acts of nonviolent civil disobedience.
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Ched Myers is an activist theologian who has worked in social change movements for more than 40 years. His books include: Binding the Strong Man: A Political Reading of Mark's Story of Jesus; Who Will Roll Away the Stone? Discipleship Queries for First World Christians; The Biblical Vision of Sabbath Economics; Ambassadors of Reconciliation: A N.T. Theology and Diverse Christian Practices of Restorative Justice and Peacemaking (with Elaine Enns); Our God is Undocumented: Biblical Faith and Immigrant Justice (with Matthew Colwell); and most recently Watershed Discipleship: Reinhabiting Bioregional Faith and Practice. He and his partner Elaine Enns, a restorative justice practitioner, live in southern California, where they co-direct Bartimaeus Cooperative Ministries (www.bcm-net.org) and focus on building capacity among young faith and justice leaders.
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Harold Talbott describes how he came to know both Thomas Merton and the Dalai Lama. After having met Merton 10 years earlier at Gethsemani Abbey, Talbot met Merton again in New Delhi and brought Merton to meet the Dalai Lama at Dharamsala. Bonnie Thurston interviews Harold Talbott.
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