Artifacts of a Life Once Lived

July 6, 2018 Over the course of the past several days I have been thrown headlong into the pages of Thomas Merton’s Seven Storey Mountain . My heart has melded with every word on the written page as the mixing of two metals into an alloy. I cannot say what Mr. Merton has done for me in language fit for the right expression on pixelated canvas. As of late, my life has in many ways wandered in a desert of my own making because of my uneasiness with, what was, back then, my present circumstance. All this to say that for some time now after having wandered and lingered in the badlands of spiritual despair, existential unrest, and mental confusion I feel the great weight of this experience lifting as the promise of a fulfilling and hopeful happiness pours into my soul through the spiritual wisdom of Mr. Merton’s story and his pressing call to the life of contemplation.   Today I read something quite moving because of how it related to my thirst for a life of depth and meaning and purpose. M