Thomas Merton Becomes More of Himself

This story of Thomas Merton’s dramatic vocational change is illustrative of the life that Jesus offers us. For many of us, we assume discipleship means becoming less “us” and more like “Jesus”. But if it were that simple, why would God make each of us so unique, just so we could simply become like one person? I would argue that following Jesus, brings out the best qualities of our personalities, rather than turning us into Jesus automatons. The story of Merton’s life illustrates this quite well:

Before Thomas Merton followed Christ, he followed money, fame, and society. He shocked many when he exchanged it all for the life of a Trappist monk in a Kentucky monastery. Business-world colleagues speculated what he must have become. They envisioned a silenced, suffering version of their friend dutifully sludging through a life of penance.

After thirteen years, a colleague, Mark van Doren, visited him and then reported back to the others: “He looked a little older; but as we sat and talked I could see no important difference in him, and once I interrupted a reminiscence of his by laughing. ‘Tom,’ I said, ‘you haven’t changed at all.’ ‘Why should I? Here,’ he said, ‘our duty is to be more our-selves, not less.’”