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Author Mark Shaw looks beneath Thomas Merton's mask of holiness, part 3
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This is part 3 of my conversation with author Mark Shaw about his upcoming book Beneath the Mask of Holiness: Thomas Merton and the Forbidden Love Affair that Set Him Free. You can find part 1 here and part 2 here. For links to even more information on Mark Shaw, his book, his blog and more, see the end of this article.
What connections can you draw between Thomas Merton's story and the world today?
To my way of thinking, Thomas Merton was the Bernard Madoff of his day without the fifty billion dollars since Merton wore a mask disguising himself as a peaceful, contemplative monk instead of the struggling man he truly was. But Merton had been, for all practical purposes, persecuted by the Catholic Church due to censorship and control and it owes him an apology. He had never experienced true freedom in his life since the guilt of pre-monastic sin consumed him. Only by the grace of God would Margie Smith, the student nurse half his age, save him when she showed him true love causing Merton to feel, as he wrote, “completed.” Now he could throw off the mask by sharing his turmoil with her, the woman he called “a miracle in my life.”
If we learn anything from the Merton story other than the importance of being our true self, it is that love may indeed “conquer all.” Merton’s story is an inspiring story, much more compelling than watered-down versions. For those who read Merton’s books, including the classics, New Seeds of Contemplation, Wisdom of the Desert, Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander, and No Man Is An Island, they may now do so with the knowledge that while it appeared he was talking about others, he was actually writing about himself. With this new perspective, his ideas about love are so critical to realizing how our actions towards others must be filled with love. In the book, I noted:
“Understanding how strongly Merton felt about experiencing love and even marriage is evident through a slow and careful reading of his words in Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander. The book features a series of “conjectures”— ”more than guesses but less than definite positions” presented by Merton, who classified himself as a “guilty bystander.” Merton began with a bold statement: “Man is most human, and mostproves his humanity (I did not say his virility) by the quality of relationship with woman.” He then decided, “obsession with virility and conquest makes a true and deep relationship impossible.” The reason: “Men think today that there is no difference between the capacity to make conquests and the capacity to love.” Merton then considered the female role: “Women respond accordingly, with elaborate deceit and thinly veiled harlotry—the role assigned to women by fashion—and there is a permanent battle between the sexes, sometimes covered over with the most atrocious and phony playacting.” Having tendered strong opinions that must have been based on his pre-monastic romantic dalliances, Merton chastised both sexes: “In all this everyone completely forgets the need for love. A desperate need: not the need to receive it only, but the need to give love.”
Turning to thoughts about his own plight as of 1965, Merton explained, “In the monastery, with our vows of chastity, we are ideally supposed to go beyond married love into something more pure, more perfect, more totally oblative. This should then make us the most human of all people.” This is terrific, Merton believed, “but that is the trouble: how can one go ‘further’ than something to which one has not yet attained?” Elaborating, he noted, “this does not mean that one cannot validly embrace a life of virginity until he has first been married, a nice contradiction to put a person in!” But, he decided, “it does mean that we cannot love perfectly if we have not in some way loved maturely and truly.”
Wow! In tandem with his apparent state of mind at the time, and all he had learned during 24 years at Gethsemani about the subject of love, Merton had in two paragraphs, 222 words in all, summed up his view of why it was essential for a monk to experience love and being loved, so as to have the potential to discover the ultimate goal: perfect love, of being with “God alone.”
Based on these revelations, when a chance to love “maturely and truly” occurred out of the blue with the gift of Margie, Merton grabbed it. Can anyone blame him? This was the mark of a man who had lived in a dark tunnel for so many years, but was emerging into the light through God’s grace, a woman to love, and be loved by. This connected to his belief about what he called the “Law of Love . . . the deepest law of our nature.” He believed a deep and most fundamental part of any divine law within one’s heart was fulfillment reached by loving.”
In New Seeds, Merton also summed his feelings about love by writing: “Love is my true identity. Selflessness is my true self. Love is my true character. Love is my name.” Just as Merton had learned his lessons, so may all of us learn from him and his writings that love is the common denominator to peace, joy, and happiness. And to the kingdom of heaven if one so desires.
You've said some interesting and controversial things - comparing mystic Thomas Merton to Bernard Madoff for example. Do you believe your book presents an accurate and balanced portrayal of Merton?
With the book poised for release all over the world by Palgrave Macmillan, I am ready for criticism about my having exposed what many will call Merton’s “dark side” through presentation of the sensational, erotic love affair he had with the student nurse half his age. But I am ready for the critics since Merton himself wrote in his private journals, “I have no intention of keeping the [Margie] business out of sight. The affair with [Margie] is an important part of my life and shows my limitations as well as a side of me – well, it needs to be shown too, for it is part of me.” And he added, “I now realize I had found something, someone, that I had been looking for all my life.” This affection for Margie which evolved from lust is depicted in the book trailer we produced, but some have bombarded me with objections to its raw nature. For them, Merton is still the sacred cow, the plastic saint, the holy man who could do no wrong when in reality, he was anything but.
So who was Thomas Merton, the real Thomas Merton? Despite inner tension and depression, he was a gifted wordsmith and mystic who wrote more than seventy spiritual books, many still bestsellers today. Like his contemporaries, Hemingway, Kerouac, Henry Miller, and James Joyce, Merton was a true literary giant. Ann Lamott said of Merton, “He was source of light and comfort and humor for me.” Joan Baez, whom I interviewed, told me Merton had a “lightness like the Dalai Lama.” Through the years, he has inspired millions of people through his wisdom, his views about living the contemplative life, and his belief in the inclusion of all religions and spiritualities. Henri Nouwen was right when he called Merton “the most important spiritual writer of the twentieth century.”
Perhaps more important, Merton’s romance with Margie Smith was a magical love affair with all the drama of Romeo and Juliet. At one point, he said the two lovers, forbidden by the church to continue to the affair, were like, as Merton wrote, “Eve and Adam.” Did they consummate the relationship? This author, based on Merton’s journal entries, believes they did but that it was sex in the purest sense of the act, a truly loving moment for them both. Did he finally choose Margie or God is a question left for those who read the book, but in the end Merton certainly did discover the freedom he had sought his entire life.
Given that Thomas Merton was a Catholic monk, and a lot of what you've discussed has dealt with the efforts of the Catholic Church to censor Merton's life, is this book primarily aimed at Catholics?
Conversion expert Dr. Louis Rambo of San Francisco Theological Seminary has endorsed the book by writing, “This book will provide people with a new view of the deeply human, but transcendent, love story of Thomas Merton – having God and loving a woman. It will be a great contribution to the spiritual journey of thousands of people.” I hope Dr. Rambo is right and that the readership will include those who know Merton well, those who have read a few of his books but know little about his private life, and especially those who have never heard of him before. New Seeds has become almost a second Bible to me since there are so many words of wisdom within the pages. Certainly Catholics are a ripe audience for this book, but people of all religions and spiritualities, and none should enjoy and learn from it as well. One endorsement for the book on the back cover is from an Atheist.
Finally, what about Margie in all of this? Where is more of her story?
Out of respect for Margie, I did not attempt to find her even though I am certain I could have done so. She has not spoken publically about the sordid affair and I respect her right not to do so. My fondest hope is that she will contact me and let me tell her side of the story for she truly saved Merton from a continuing life of turmoil and depression.
I want to give my thanks to author Mark Shaw for taking the time to talk with me about his upcoming book,Beneath the Mask of Holiness: Thomas Merton and the Forbidden Love Affair that Set Him Free. The book is available November 10th, so if this conversation has interested you or sparked your curiosity, check out the book for the whole story. Mark Shaw is also a blogger, and he maintains a Thomas Merton blog here. For more information from me or Mr. Shaw, feel free to contact me or contact Mark directly through his website, blog or Facebook group.
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