Thomas Merton and the Transformative Power of Love

“To say that I am made in the image of God is to say that love is the reason for my existence, for God is love. Love is my true identity. Selflessness is my true self. Love is my true character: Love is my name.” —Thomas Merton

Love, as Thomas Merton learned, truly is a many splendored thing. He loved God and trusted in the love of God, but he realized love’s true nature only when he fell in love himself. It changed the contemplative monk to the core and made him view God’s grace and his relation to it in new ways that he felt impelled to share in his writing.

Merton lived as a contemplative monk studying, writing, and praying. He could be impatient, rambunctious, charming, deceptive, and experience pain and love. In other words, he was completely human. It was in the vulnerability of that messy humanity where he most felt the grace of God. Merton came to understand that when we can express ourselves as beloved children of God, we acquire a wholeness that allows us to bring the best of who we are into the world. How do we make this connection and sense God’s love for us? How do earthly and spiritual love fit together?

We will consider these questions through reading, journaling, and exploring images of ourselves in which we look and feel beloved. Recognizing that so many of the issues of Merton’s time surrounding love are, sometimes frustratingly so, still issues for us today, we will also discuss how Merton’s work helps us to see through a lens of grace, allowing us to access love for ourselves, for others, and the world.

Sophfronia Scott is a leading contemplative thinker who writes nonfiction books including The Seeker and the Monk, Love’s Long Line, and This Child of Faith, and novels including Wild, Beautiful, and Free, Unforgivable Love, and All I Need to Get By. She is founding director of Alma College’s Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Creative Writing.

ROOM RATES AND OPTIONS:

Single room (Twin bed) with private bath: $320

Double room (Twin beds) with private bath: $220 per person/$440 total

ADA Compliant and Triple rooms may be available upon request.

All meals are included.  

There are limited king beds available for a $100 surcharge.

Sophfronia Scott is a leading contemplative thinker who writes nonfiction books including The Seeker and the Monk, Love’s Long Line, and This Child of Faith, and novels including Wild, Beautiful, and Free, Unforgivable Love, and All I Need to Get By. She is founding director of Alma College’s Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Creative Writing.