Roy’s Sunday Letter for April 9, 2023
- After reading Merton’s work for over 50 years, I would like to begin this Easter Sunday letter with some fascinating facts. Thomas Merton was first a Trappiest monk and second a writer of books and especially of letters. Beginning in 1942 until his death in 1968, Merton wrote over 10,000 letters to 2,100 individuals and organizations. Merton lived a monk’s life of silence and physical isolation. He sought solitude and lived as a hermit at Gethsemani Monastery. Yet, Merton received visitors, was widely published, wrote in protest of war, about racial issues/justice, and pushed for updating conventional monastic life.
- I have 1960 questions: Did Merton use carbon paper? Who paid for the postage for massive mailings of which many were international? In the 1960’s, where did he store 10,000 letter copies; as well as the names and addresses of 2,100 correspondents?
- Learn more at The Merton Legacy Trust, YouTube, and your own search.
** As part of morning errands, Beth wanted to bring home breakfast burritos. Both a local burrito place and McDonald’s told Beth, “Sorry, we are out of eggs.” This was a surprise and a bit hard to understand.
- For golfers, this is Master’s week! Arnold Palmer won the 1960 Master’s. My father and I watched Arnold on a small black & white tv. Like many War II veterans of that time, my father began playing golf and I joined in learning the game with cut down clubs. My education was supported by playing on the golf team at Texas Wesleyan. Now 78, I have not played since our return from Santa Fe to Ft. Worth. But this is Master’s week and my clubs and bag nearby. So maybe, just maybe, Arnold and I might still enjoy the click of a ball on club.
** How we communicate with our devices in 2023. To Phone: “Hey Siri.” In our car it is, “Hey Goggle.”
- Sam Bennett is a 22-year-old student at Texas A & M is playing well in the Master’s as an amateur. Bennett’s father was diagnosed, at age 45, with Alzheimer’s. Eight years later, in his last days of life, his father gave Sam a note he had struggled to write, “Don’t wait to do something.” Following his father’s death, Sam had his father’s words tattooed on his arm, a forever father’s encouraging message to his son.
** Today is Easter Sunday. The end of the ministry of Jesus at age 33 is recorded in the Gospels. The emergence of a sustaining community of believers, the church, began. Jesus’s teachings and actions were about respecting the lives of others, of calling those who were separated to join him in a life of faith, hope, and inclusion. The challenge this Easter Sunday is in what ways am I, are we, continuing and fulfilling the mission and ministry of Jesus in 2023?
Roy, Still a Believer, maybe even a golfer
On this Easter Sunday here at the Pueblo in New Mexico are people have embraced Easter Sunday as it reflects the coming of the spring and celebrating the spring solstice so we have already had a week’s filled with celebration of ceremony that do not match what the Catholic Church would promote but I think it reflects what Jesus might promote connecting with the Earth sharing with the community doing the best we can to get along making peace and spreading love.. on a lighter note I was introduced to golf back in the early 90s maybe and a friend of mine who was an accomplish artists of the Southwest introduced me to a young executive cigar smoking powerhouse out of New York City he paid for us to go to the Santa Fe country club and play golf and having had a little bit of an athletic background I picked up the game very quickly and there were probably out of 18 holes that day only a few choice hits that I made but those few hits hooked me on golf and isn’t that isn’t that the way life is you take part in a few actions and you get hooked and hopefully people get hooked on preserving democracy supporting the preaching of either the Christian Gospel or the indigenous love of mother Earth they’re all good we just have to embrace them.. Roy I encourage you to pick up your clubs and take them out every once in awhile and connect with that open air with the heat of the Sun with the little animals running around the golf course and just enjoying that I can’t wait to get out there we’re almost there here in New Mexico but we still got another week or two to go and then we’ll have a season that goes all the way through the middle of November.. hooray for spring! Rainbird
Beautiful words Paul! 🙏🏼Beth
Ijust wrote Paul back….a good friend.