CALL FOR PAPERS AND WORKSHOPS
Eighth General Meeting
THE THOMAS MERTON SOCIETY OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND
9th - 11th April 2010
Oakham School, Rutland
The Night Spirit and the Dawn Air
‘How the valley awakes… Here is an unspeakable secret: paradise is all around us
and we do not understand... “Wisdom,” cries the dawn deacon, but we do not
attend.’
Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander
The third part of Merton’s 1966 book, Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander,
is particularly rich. Entitled ‘The Night Spirit and the Dawn Air’, it holds
many light and darker themes that speak directly to people in this ‘interesting
era’, several decades later. They include: the psychology of crisis and the fear
of change; the spark within everyone that belongs entirely to God; vocation (of
St. Thomas Aquinas concerning Aristotle); beauty and nature (‘Flycatchers,
shaking their wings after rain’); the religious genius of the Protestant
Reformation; Christ, ‘Beyond purity and impurity’; Bonhoeffer and ethics;
Merton’s epiphany (at 4th & Walnut); anti-semitism, past and present; war (‘Wars
have to be won’!); politics (‘I like Kennedy. He is better than most.’);
literature (Milosz, Sartre, Rimbaud, Malraux, Brecht, Orwell, Eliot and Camus,
are all mentioned); the Hindu Gita, the Tao, Sufism, Zen… And more.
Papers responding to this chapter, illuminating these themes in the light of the
present world situation, are sought for presentation at the conference. Ideas
for workshops, meditation and creative activities are also invited. Personal
reflections and non-academic presentations will be welcome.
Academic papers will be allotted 30 minutes (10 – 12 double spaced pages,
maximum) and the proposal should be no more than 500 words. Workshops would run
for 90 minutes; dramatic, poetic, artistic and musical presentations for 45 – 90
minutes.
Papers can be submitted for publication in the Merton Journal following
the conference, so presenters should consider this in the presentation of their
texts. Proposals for papers, workshops and presentations should be sent by email
or by post by 30th June 2009 to:
Larry Culliford,
PO Box 2567,
Henfield,
West Sussex, BN5 0BR, UK
E-mail:
auud26@dsl.pipex.com