A book reflecting the intense purity of Merton's faith

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	• The Sign of Jonas Thomas, Merton Harcourt, 1979 - 362 pages average customer review:based on 10 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

An Overlooked Gem

For those who have come to know and enjoy Merton's writing, this collection of edited early journal entries provides a great deal of insight into the man and why he was able to remain so committed to Trappist life in his later times of trial. Much of the smugness of some parts of The Seven Storey Mountain are already gone, and we can see him maturing in his thought and his observations.

The epilogue, titled "Fire Watch," is worth the price of the book by itself. In addition, there is a pre-figuring of his famous experience at "Fourth and Walnut" in Louisville in his account of his first trip outside the monastery, approximately seven years after he entered. By following a typical journal format, one can follow the development of his thinking. (By contrast, a later similar book, Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander, is not necessarily arranged chronologically, which makes it more difficult for me to follow.)

Those who enjoy Merton will treasure this book.

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Merton as a Friend

Sign of Jonas is a marvelous interweaving of three themes. Merton's love of nature is vividly described while he also relates his own spiritual growth as he moves through the years preceding and following becoming a priest. He tells of life at the monastery in a clear and,for the most part, affectionate way. The book moves smoothly from one of these arenas to another and back again. His explanations of his spiritual experiences are so very honest.It was my first Merton book and remains my favorite. When I finish the last page I turn to the first and start again. Reading and re-reading this book is like having a close friend.

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A book reflecting the intense purity of Merton's faith

What a wonderful way to start my new year with this book! A Benedictine Sister kindly gave me this book on my New Year's Eve retreat with them, after she learned that I love Merton's writings. How pure Merton's faith was, and how intensely absorbing his writing!

"All my desires draw me more and more in that direction. To be little, to be nothing, to rejoice in your imperfections, to be glad that you are not worthy of attention, that you are of no account in the universe. This is the only liberation. The only way to true solitude."

I highly recommend this book to anyone who is honestly in pursuit of the true faith.

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Give this book a try!

Often referred to as "The Seven Storey Mountain: Part II", the "Sign of Jonas" is a nice collection of Merton's journal entries that chronicle his life after joining the Trappists.

"The Sign of Jonas" answers the simple question: "what happened after Seven Storey Mountain?" While some have been disappointed by the difference between his most famous autobiography and this collection of journal entries, I have to step forward and disagree.

I think this is a great book that speaks to the hearts of those who know what it is to struggle with your state in life, discerning your vocation and living the Gospel message to the best of your ability with all that it brings.

Give this book a try!

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Portrait of Merton as a Young Monk

THE SIGN OF JONAS is the journal of the Trappist monk Thomas Merton from 1946 to 1952, covering his early years at the Abbey of Our Lady of Gethsemane through his ordination and his first couple of years as a priest. It is, essentially, a sequel to his best-selling THE SEVEN STOREY MOUNTAIN. The latter book is a more traditional autobiography, spanning his early life, covering his conversion experience, and culminating in his decision to enter contemplative life. What's so fascinating about Merton is that he was such a manifestly *human* human being, in the sense of having all of our weaknesses of body and mind; he was, in short, not what you'd think of as very saintly. Nonetheless, he was able to transcend those very human qualities, empty himself, and fill himself with God--and write about it in such a beautiful way that he is able to inspire and to move others to want to emulate him.

The journal entries that comprise this book vary considerably in style, tone, and content, but there are basically two types: Many of the entries, especially in the first half of the book are narrative, for instance, describing Merton's consternation over what he sees as a conflict between his writing and his need to live the contemplative life. This sense of inner discord is exacerbated by, on the one hand, his fame resulting from the publication of SEVEN STOREY MOUNTAIN and his desire (perhaps temptation) for the more hermit-like life of the Carthusian. His superior in religious life, the abbot, essentially orders him to (1) write and (2) forget about the Carthusians, and he is obedient to his abbot as the expression of God's will. Merton's descriptions of his monastic surroundings are lyrical and painterly. The narrative entries are furthermore peppered with good humor, both droll ("There is certainly something very touching about lambs, until they find their way into holy pictures and become unpleasant" [p. 168]") and childlike (during one of the services, he is distracted by the hunting scene depicted on the shirt of one of the postulants: "What disturbs me especially is that one of the huntsmen, on a very fat horse, is riding directly through the middle of the pack of hounds, at right angles to the apparent direction of the chase. And I say to him, `Where do you think you're going?' when my mind ought to be on the psalms" [p. 208]).

The other major type of journal entry focuses on aspects of the spiritual life. These passages are beautiful, often abstruse, and occasionally exceedingly dense. They are suitable more for meditation than for simple reading pleasure. About halfway through the book, when Merton is ordained a priest, he becomes especially consumed by his new role and enraptured by the Mass. This in part reflects a pre-Vatican II understanding of the Mass that was more personal and less community-focused. For this reader, anyway, these passages are, though initially interesting, eventually a bit trying. Fortunately, Merton grows into his priesthood, and his writing reflects this, becoming less inward and self-absorbed. At the very end of the book, in the Epilogue called `Fire Watch," he is able to successfully join narrative and spiritual writing for a final meditation.

THE SIGN OF JONAS depicts Merton at a point in his life at which his ideas and thoughts are still maturing. It is, however that may be, a stunning piece of work. For my part, I found it more moving than SEVEN STOREY MOUNTAIN. In fact, I think it is one of the best pieces of 20th-century Catholic spiritual literature, a book that I found both edifying and a pleasure to read.

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Begun five years after he entered the Abbey of Our Lady of Gethsemani, The Sign of Jonas is an extraordinary view of Merton?s life in a Trappist monastery, and it serves also as a spiritual log recording the deep meaning and increasing sureness he felt in his vocation: the growth of a mind that finds in its contracted physical world new intellectual and spiritual dimensions.

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