Merton: Breathing & Walking

I first became exposed to the writings of Thomas Merton while taking a course in Spiritual Disciplines during the Summer of 2004. As part of our coursework, each student was asked to read selections from practitioners of many historical figures in the arts of silence, solitude, prayer, fasting, and pilgrimage. Out of all of the writers I had the privilege to review, Merton was the one I found myself relating to the most. There was something about Merton's desire for solitude and to be in the presence of the God who gave him the desire to serve others, reflect on life, and to pray without ceasing that made his words addicting. No more than a week following the course, I promptly purchased two of his better known books ("The New Man"/"No Man is an Island"), and finished them within a couple of weeks. Merton's works rapidly became a part of my personal library.

There are two passages of Merton's work that have had a lasting effect on me. The first passage comes from the pages of his collection titled "Thoughts in Solitude." Starting with the words, "My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going...," it has become my life passage; an adopted summary of my journey. (*You can read it in its entirety here.) The second comes from a collection of Merton's prayers and drawings that he made during his time at the Abbey of Gethsemani.

"My God, I pray better to you by breathing.
I pray better to you by walking than by talking."

I find this quote to be incredibly relevant and vital to the current journey that I am on these days: Mindfulness. The art of breathing and walking are two of the practices that we utilized heavily during our retreat, but are also (in my opinion) the two most prevalent life/bodily tasks that we do every day. For Merton, they were essential parts of silence as neither required any form of rhetoric. They were the basic cadences of his life. They too, are mine.

The use of mindfulness practices, it seems, have often been associated with the idea of retreating and stepping away from the current pace of life that many find themselves in. Maybe it's due to being associated heavily with the art of meditation, which tends to be associated with this sort of withdrawal. But to me, mindfulness is much bigger and complex than the idea of meditation. It's about being present in our lives, wherever we are with whatever we're doing. It's designed to serve as an awareness of our life.

As I now begin the second-half of my journey into mindfulness, my approach will begin to shift toward the present acts of breathing and walking. More of my reflections will begin to take on my experiences with the world around me, as I encounter the world with my eyes open wider. Compassion and lovingkindness will continue to be major parts of this journey, but I will begin to explore through other practices such as labyrinth walking, yoga, and other forms. This idea of breathing and walking will also be used to help me expand the view of my experiences to full-day encounters as opposed to the single accounts that were found in the previous entries.

So as I step forth into these next two weeks, it is time for me to breath in deeply and take the first step. It is my hope and prayer that my journey will continue to be blessed, and that I will continue to have my practice enriched through my reflections, my experiences, and my gratitude for being able to live each day as a new gift to be unwrapped.