AFAC: Seeds of Contemplation
One of the many delights of responding to the bishop's letter has been the discovery that both Merton's original Seeds of Contemplation and its revision New Seeds of Contemplation are available on the internet as pdfs. That means that now on any electronic device they are instantly available from this post. Moreover, on a laptop computer with a monitor attached I can place each of them on a screen and compare.
by Roth Fox, O.S.B
This twenty-two page article concludes. By comparing Seeds with New Seeds we have been able to trace some of the most significant changes that occurred in Merton's thought from 1949 to 1961. Were the changes and developments only a normal process of spiritual growth, or were they indicative of a more profound conversion? That question cannot be objectively answered because any judgment made is based on the subjective experience of the one making it. But the process can be summarized as Donald Grayston writes : "Having fled from the world in anger, self-reproach and confusion, he had returned to it in love and compassion" (Grayston, p. 182). Most of us have observed in contemporary spiritual writers, and in ourselves, a similar development of theology. However, there is this significant difference -- Merton's new and evolving insights traced here were all pre-Vatican II. And that would seem to be very important, perhaps more significant than the changes themselves. Following Vatican II most Catholics expressed a greater compassion and openness to the world, pursued an interest in traditions other than Roman Catholic and made applications of psychology to spirituality. But not many can claim, as Merton could, that this development preceded Vatican II. Perhaps we could say that some of Merton's " Seeds" blossomed in Vatican II, and are even now bearing fruit, probably beyond what even he could have envisioned.