modern american transcendence

I've been reading some daily meditations from Thomas Merton. I am enjoying this process of a single, short set of thoughts to begin each morning over my tea or coffee. It makes me look at certain things in my life differently and frequently stretches me to think of things I have not yet pondered.

The Gatehouse at the Abbey of Gethsemani. Photo from here.

Yesterday morning, a very specific question arose.

Merton was a mid-20th Century monk. An unusual creature in a modern world. He wrote prolifically and profoundly; spiritually, non-dogmatically. He objected to many problems of the modern world (Vietnam, high on the list) but eschewed that world. He was a bit of a silent political activist.

In yesterday's meditation he wrote: "Renunciation of meaningful action and protest in contemporary affairs, awareness that the action itself may be ambiguous, the renunciation of it more clear, a better defined protest."

So this made me think.

There is much angst and kvetching over apathy in modern politics...the lack of voter turn-out. Instead of apathy, is this just the ultimate protest of what we are offered in modern politics? While I certainly do not give the average American credit for thinking through their silent protest...their "renunciation of meaningful action", as Merton puts it...but perhaps it should be considered in that light.