Merton's Quest For Certainty In Religion example essay topic

"The Quest for Certainty " The Seven Storey Mountain By Thomas Merton History 324 Summer 2000 In the autobiography, The Seven Storey Mountain, Thomas Merton explains how he sought to find certainty in his life through religion. Merton began the book by giving an overview of his early childhood. His father was from New Zealand and his mother was an American who lived in France. Both his father and mother were artists and did not earn much money. When his parents needed extra money, Merton's father would do various jobs in order for the family to survive.

For example, he would garden occasionally and he even played the organ at the local Episcopalian church for a short period of time. This church was the first that Merton would attend. He did not understand the rituals or the concept of prayer. This lack of understanding about churches or religion, for that matter, was contributed to the fact that he never received any formal religious training from his parents. It is evident that Merton's mother was a Quaker, but she did not choose to involve her family in the faith.

Early in Thomas's life, his mother died from stomach cancer. From this point on, Thomas would spend some of his time living with his grandparents in New York and he would travel part-time with his father to France. Merton had a fascination with the numerous cathedrals in France. Although he knew nothing about the monastic vocations or religious rules connected to the pictures in the cathedrals, his heart was filled with curiosity.

Merton's early life did not include religion. I believe that he was deeply confused by this fact and he wanted to learn more about what religion was and how it affected people. One of the turning points in Merton's life was his discovery of the book, The Spirit of Medieval Philosophy, by Etienne Gilson. Before reading this book, Merton said that, "while I admired the Catholic culture, I had always been afraid of the Catholic Church" (p. 172). Merton still read the book and he discovered some concepts that revolutionized his entire life. He learned the transliteration of God and that "faith was something that had a very definite meaning and was a most cogent necessity" (p. 175).

Shortly after reading the book, Merton had the sudden urge to go to Mass. He was astounded by the congregation of people that were intimately familiar with the Scripture of God's word. Although he felt a little out of place, he yearned to understand and to be a part of something so wonderful. Merton did not stay throughout the entire Mass. Reflecting upon his visit, he wondered whether his life would have been different if he had known God's grace as a child. Especially when he viewed the mosaics in the Roman Churches, perhaps they would have had more spiritual meaning to him had he known what he did then.

On November 16th, 1938, Merton was baptized into the Catholic faith. He described the event as an "exorcism" of the previous years of blackness. Finally, he proclaimed that he wanted to be a priest. More than anything, he wanted to be detached from the world and united with God.

He learned of the Franciscan monastery. They led a life that was simple and informal. Although they lived in poverty, they spent the majority of their days devoting their lives to God. Merton was determined to become a Franciscan, so he wrote them and asked to be accepted. However, he was rejected because he was a recent convert, he had an unsettled lifestyle, and his family was not previously religious. At first, Merton was discouraged.

However, Merton put his faith into God and trusted that it was not his time. He bought the Breviary, a book set of prayers, and he tried to live his life as if he were in the monastery. The unending cycles of prayers and daily consumption of Communion helped him dismiss the useless luxuries of the world. Finally, he felt that he needed to visit the Trappist monastery. He was intimidated originally by the Trappist monastery because their belief in silence and the fact that they made their living by farming and growing crops and livestock. However, he felt that he needed the Trappists to test his own faith and strength.

He went during Holy Week and was completely consumed by the peace and tranquility of the monastery. Eventually, Merton will write the Gethsemane and be accepted into their monastery. He described the monastery a school where you learn from God the meaning of happiness. I believe that Merton's quest for certainty in religion was fulfilled.

He needed some truth and understanding of why he was created, how he was to lead his life, and what his ultimate calling was in life. He found all of his answers in the Catholic Church. Not only was he a deeply religious man, but he was an intelligent man with a strong will to learn..