Comments on: Thomas Merton – Sexuality and Spiritual Denial

By: Wallace Hamilton

Wallace Hamilton — Tue, 24 Jun 2025 19:32:02 +0000

So, Thomas Merton was human! Mary Magdalene loved Jesus and vice versa. If that love was consummated it is of importance only to them. Negative prescriptions only serve to stifle personal growth.

By: Cheryl M Burton

Cheryl M Burton — Sat, 04 Feb 2023 16:55:47 +0000

The OT tells of the unhappiness that occurred between the people involved when men went contrary to the teachings of God, and accumulated more than one wife for themselves. Then when Jesus was on earth he re-established the original command of one man and one woman in marriage. When there is no marriage, human dignity is degraded more and more. Eventually evil prevails in a society where the close family unit system is abandoned. Today some monks marry, but at the time of Thomas Merton it was not common. He supposedly asked his Abbott if he could marry the woman but he was denied.

By: Sem Ginzales

Sem Ginzales — Sun, 12 Jul 2020 01:00:53 +0000

In reply to j. On the contrary, the actions/behaviors of Merton during these times of the affairs gave away so much of what could have happened. From the words of his mouth as told to his circle of friends and from his own journals and writings tell so much more than meets the eye. Who knows what documents or testimonies are kept in the archives of the Monastery of Getshemani or Bellarmine University that's hidden from public view?

By: Kihan

Kihan — Sun, 28 Feb 2016 04:54:45 +0000

Hi, to separate Merton’s spirituality from his childhood and adolescent emotional trauma would be doing injustice to fully understanding him. Shaw was right in this: his spirituality was profoundly shaped by his difficulty with intimacy and sexuality, and this was a result of youth, losing his mother at age 6, father at age 16, grandfather at 21 and grandmother at 23. Merton loved truths. We need to honor him by exploring the relationship between his challenged intimacy/sexuality with his spiritual journey. I don’t think he solved it and would be most delighted our attempts to understand him in true depths.

By: Mary

Mary — Fri, 14 Aug 2015 01:17:14 +0000

Nathan,

This an excellent article.
Why is human love and sexuality so derided in the Church?
Monastic life is often an escape from the responsibilities of life that can often lead to disordered thinking about life and the term “bride of Christ” positively wacky.. Thomas Merton it seems was a good man searching for something, but very lonely, attempting to find spiritual union with the unknown .why was his relationship with a woman a sin? How could it be? It is the sacred in life.. This needs some psychological analysis,plus some common sense!

By: joe

joe — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 18:24:20 +0000

If the name of this site is ‘Life is a Human’ than the discussion of Merton and his love for Ms Smith is what it is to be that, ‘human’. Vows or not, to deny our sex, sexuality, sexual attraction to ourselves, to each other makes little sense. If there is a God and we profess to love Him/Her/It sex is part of that love. Its “energy” can be used to reach incredible heights of ecstasy that maybe(?) ‘God-like’.
Having been a reader of Merton, on and off for many years I remember a biography that ‘hinted’ at this love of his, and I am now glad to have stumbled across the possible “truth” of it.
I do not feel it is not the ‘end of the world’ concerning Merton and his brilliance. It speaks of struggles we all have with relating to each other and our desire(s), need(s) to ‘love’ one another.
Merton found he ‘loved’ this young woman who was helping him and was kind to him when he was ‘suffering.’
Good for both of them.

By: Tom

Tom — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 17:39:43 +0000

I don’t think this is very complicated in Buddhism. Sex and love by themselves are obviously fun–no suffering there. It’s attachment and impermanence that lead to suffering. A vow of celibacy by itself merely attempts to treat the symptom: by not engaging in sex or love, the hope is that people don’t become attached to it. But it doesn’t really help people realize the true sources of suffering.

On the whole, I don’t believe that monks are a good source of spiritual inspiration or guidance; I tend to think of monasteries as places for spiritually troubled people who need a specially structured environment to find their spiritual life.

By: Andrea K. Paterson

Andrea K. Paterson — Sun, 14 Nov 2010 00:59:08 +0000

Very thought provoking article. Something that might be worth considering is the intersection between monastic vows and marriage vows. I’ve always been interested in the fact that Roman Catholicism holds up marriage as a sacred vow and yet does not allow their priests to marry. Somehow the vows taken by priests and the vows taken by those entering a marriage are mutually exclusive in the Roman Catholic tradition and yes, I’m sure this causes all sorts of confusion and frustration. I could never understand how a faith could uphold the sacredness of marriage while at the same time disallowing their own clergy to enter into this sacred state. These vows seem to be fundamentally at odds and your article got me thinking about why that has come to be and why it continues to be so.

By: Nathan

Nathan — Sat, 13 Nov 2010 17:58:59 +0000

In reply to Ross Lonergan.

Hi Ross,

Having seen your other posts on here, I can imagine you’d really enjoy Merton’s journals. He was quite courageous in many ways, and I find the ability to read his journals and experience the day to day struggles, questions, and joys he had a gift.

Nathan

By: Ross Lonergan

Ross Lonergan — Sat, 13 Nov 2010 16:16:37 +0000

Hi Nathan:

As a Christian, I believe that sexuality, like intelligence or creativity, is a precious gift from God, in every form that it takes. A religious vow taken by a monk, obedience promised by a priest to his bishop, religious “tradition” are all human constructs. I am convinced that Merton’s journey, although perhaps more difficult due to his particular environment and circumstances, is one we all face, that is, to cast off the constraints put upon us by church, family, community and be who we really are – who God made us to be.

I enjoyed your thoughtful article and will add Merton’s journals to my (ever-growing) reading list.