Morgan Atkinson has documented the life of Thomas Merton over two films. The poetic contemplative Thomas Merton lived an ever expanding and continual openness to God’s love and Atkinson beautifully captures this on film. In this episode discover Thomas Merton as the rescuer of the contemplative tradition in Christianity, the middle-aged monk who fell ass over heels in love with a student nurse, and opens dialogues with other religious traditions through the depth of each one’s contemplative stream. Atkinson has produced multiple documentaries on Thomas Merton, John Howard Griffin, Anna and Harlan Hubbard among many others. In our conversation we focus on life lessons from Thomas Merton, his life as an artist and monk, what his students (novices) thought of him, and his ongoing legacy in the contemplative communities. Merton is a hero of mine, for his humor, humility, deep sense of wonder and of course for that lovely quote begins episode one of Contemplify, “I drink beer whenever I can lay my hands on any. I love beer, and by that very fact, the world.”
Morgan Atkinson is an award-winning filmmaker from Louisville, Kentucky. His work has appeared on PBS and in various film festivals. See all of Morgan’s work here.
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EPISODE SHOW NOTES
Films by Morgan Atkinson
- The Many Storeys and Last Days of Thomas Merton
- Soul Searching: The Journey of Thomas Merton
- Uncommon Vision: The Life and Times of John Howard Griffin
- The Poetry of a Soul: A Monk’s Story
- The Abbey of Gethsemani
- Live Music: The Tim Krekel Story
- Many more
Books and Resources Mentioned
- The Seven Storey Mountain by Thomas Merton
- Merton – A Film Biography by Paul Wilkes
- Angelic Mistakes: The Art of Thomas Merton by Roger Lipsey and Paul M. Pearson
- Make Peace Before the Sun Goes Down by Roger Lipsey
- Merton’s Palace of Nowhere by James Finley
- Thomas Merton: Spiritual Master, Essential Writings by Lawrence Cunningham
- Krista Tippet, On Being
- The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers directed by Rick Goldsmith and Judith Ehrlich
People
- Br. Paul Quenon
- Paul Wilkes
- Richard Rohr, OFM
- Cistercians
- Carthusians
- Trappists
- William Faulkner
- Albert Camus
- Daniel Berrigan
- Desert Fathers and Mothers
- James Finley
- Shane Claiborne
- Studs Terkel
- Robert Ellsberg
- Daniel Ellsberg
- Rachel Carson
Drinks Pairings
- Kentucky Whisky (slowly sipped)
Highlights
2m30s How does contemplative relate to Thomas Merton?
10m23s How do you relate to Merton in your 60s that you couldn’t as a young man?
13m30s Why makes films about Merton?
31m20s Merton’s romantic relationship with the student nurse
42m25s How did Merton’s student view him as a novice master? We
46m26s Who is picking up the mantle from Thomas Merton in our day?
55m10s What attributes of Merton’s would you hope the next generation would take hold of?
Photo credit: Death to Stock Photo
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