W.L. Lyons Brown Library

Thomas Merton Center

Bellarmine University

The Fifth Conference of the Thomas Merton Society of Great Britain & Ireland took place in Birmingham in June 2004. In that time before the Asian tsunami, before the London bombings, before hurricanes Katrina and Rita and Stan, before news of the Niger food crisis filtered through, before the earthquake which devastated Pakistan and her neighbours, there was a different range of crises on the public horizon, not least the enduring chaos of destabilization in Iraq.

We had chosen with our conference theme to engage with the wider effects of these (perhaps virtual, always critical) realities pressing in on us continually. Not the effects experienced by the victims, the bereaved and damaged, frightened and displaced people of so many catastrophes; but rather the effects upon those of us who profess faith and seek understanding, perhaps as ‘guilty bystanders’ in Merton’s terms. Drawing upon the resources of our faith, via Merton, we sought a perspective and a language, an orientation and practical hope in such a world.

We are delighted to be make available this latest book from TMS-GB&I, a collection of papers which each begin as a response to the perceived challenges that face humanity together, and which draw deeply from the works of Merton and from the springs of contemplation.

• DIANA FRANCIS - War, Peace and Faithfulness.
• TINA BEATTIE - “Vision in Obscurity”: Discerning Peace in Fearful Times.
• FERNANDO BELTRÀN LLAVADOR - Unbinding Prometheus: Thomas Merton And The "Patient Architecture Of Peace".
• JOSEPH QUINN RAAB - The War on Terror and the Crisis of Language.
• NIGEL MARTIN - Beyond The Politics Of Peacemaking.
• GERALD GRUDZEN - Martin Luther King and Thomas Merton.
• MARY FRANCES COADY - Thomas Merton and Alfred Delp.
• DAVID BELCASTRO - Sane Language in an Insane World.
• PATRICK O’CONNELL - Thomas Merton’s Civil Rights Poetry.
• LARRY CULLIFORD - The New Heroism.
• PAUL M. PEARSON - The Artist in a Time of Crisis.

How to get your copy...

Copies are available from the Thomas Merton Center at Bellarmine University for a minimum donation of $16. Please send your check, in US Dollars only, to:

Dr Paul M Pearson.
Thomas Merton Center,
Bellarmine University,
2001 Newburg Road,
Louisville. KY. 40205.

Or print off and complete the Order Form  

In the United Kingdom and Europe go to:

http://www.thomasmertonsociety.org/chaos.htm  for ordering information

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