{"id":6050,"date":"2018-03-28T08:37:00","date_gmt":"2018-03-28T15:37:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/?p=6050"},"modified":"2018-03-28T08:37:00","modified_gmt":"2018-03-28T15:37:00","slug":"thomas-merton-the-sowing-of-meanings-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/2018\/03\/28\/thomas-merton-the-sowing-of-meanings-3\/","title":{"rendered":"Thomas Merton – The Sowing of Meanings"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Sowing of Meanings
\nby Thomas Merton<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

See the high birds! Is theirs the song
\nThat dies among the wood-light
\nWounding the listener with such bright arrows?
\nOr do they play in wheeling silences
\nDefining in the perfect sky
\nThe bounds of (here below) our solitude,<\/p>\n

Where spring has generated lights of green
\nTo glow in clouds upon the sombre branches?
\nPonds full of sky and stillnesses
\nWhat heavy summer songs still sleep
\nUnder the tawny rushes at your brim?<\/p>\n

More than a season will be born here, nature,
\nIn your world of gravid mirrors!
\nThe quiet air awaits one note,
\nOne light, one ray and it will be the angels\u2019 spring:
\nOne flash, one glance upon the shiny pond, and then
\nAsperges me! sweet wilderness, and lo! we are redeemed!<\/p>\n

For, like a grain of fire
\nSmouldering in the heart of every living essence
\nGod plants His undivided power \u2014
\nBuries His thought too vast for worlds
\nIn seed and root and blade and flower,<\/p>\n

Until, in the amazing light of April,
\nSurcharging the religious silence of the spring,
\nCreation finds the pressure of His everlasting secret
\nToo terrible to bear.<\/p>\n

Then every way we look, lo! rocks and trees
\nPastures and hills and streams and birds and firmament
\nAnd our own souls within us flash, and shower us with light,
\nWhile the wild countryside, unknown, unvisited of men,
\nBears sheaves of clean, transforming fire.<\/p>\n

And then, oh then the written image, schooled in sacrifice,
\nThe deep united threeness printed in our being,
\nShot by the brilliant syllable of such an intuition, turns within,
\nAnd plants that light far down into the heart of darkness and oblivion,
\nDives after, and discovers flame.<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/a> \u2014 from Selected Poems of Thomas Merton<\/a>, by Thomas Merton<\/font><\/p>\n


\/ Image by NemanjaJ<\/a> \/<\/em><\/font><\/p>\n

It is a sleepy, overcast morning here in Colorado. Clouds have been alternating with brilliant blue skies for several days. Spring is eager to awaken. The reviving world calls me to step out my front door, to stroll\u2026<\/p>\n

Ponds full of sky and stillnesses<\/i><\/p>\n

\u2026to see what is secretly waiting to blossom\u2026<\/p>\n

For, like a grain of fire
\nSmouldering in the heart of every living essence
\nGod plants His undivided power \u2014
\nBuries His thought too vast for worlds
\nIn seed and root and blade and flower,<\/i><\/p>\n

The renewal of spring reminds us that so much life and possibility is buried just beneath the surface of the world. We move through our days glancing but rarely looking, brushing past but barely touching, all while a hidden green sap runs through everything, percolating, gestating, just awaiting its moment to blossom in a thousand forms into the world.<\/p>\n

We can see a blade of grass or a flower on the branch, and smile but think nothing of it. Or we can really look, recognize the life behind its life, following its secret channels back to the pool of life. When we pay attention, we see not only the myriad expressions of lovely new life, we see life itself, that mysterious questing force that animates the entire universe.<\/p>\n

When reading this poem, the question comes up: What does that line about \u201casperges\u201d mean? \u201cAsperges\u201d is a reference to the Catholic rite of sprinkling holy water on the congregation, especially associated with Easter mass. It comes from the first word (in Latin) of Psalms 51:9, which is traditionally chanted in Catholic masses during Easter. So Merton is making a reference to anointing, sanctification, purification, and Easter\u2026<\/p>\n

I hope you find a way to step into the awakening world during this Passover and Easter season.<\/p>\n

Then every way we look, lo! rocks and trees
\nPastures and hills and streams and birds and firmament
\nAnd our own souls within us flash, and shower us with light\u2026<\/i><\/p>\n


\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/a>Recommended Books: Thomas Merton<\/font><\/b><\/p>\n\n

<\/p>\n

\n\n\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

<\/center>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/td>\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Selected Poems of Thomas Merton<\/a><\/small><\/td>\nThe Collected Poems of Thomas Merton<\/a><\/small><\/td>\nA Thomas Merton Reader<\/a><\/small><\/td>\nThe Strange Islands: Poems by Thomas Merton<\/a><\/small><\/td>\nThomas Merton Monk & Poet: A Critical Study<\/a><\/small><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n\n
\n\"Thomas<\/a>\n<\/td>\n\nThomas Merton<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

US (1915 \u2013 1968) Timeline<\/a>
\nChristian<\/a> : Catholic<\/a>
\n<\/a><\/a><\/em>\n<\/td>\n

<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

<\/p>\n

Thomas Merton was a hugely influential Catholic monk and mystic of the 20th century who wrote with great insight and inspiration on the spiritual journey and the quest for meaning and inner silence within the modern world. He was an important voice in opening up a dialog between the spiritual traditions of East and West. He himself studied many Eastern spiritual practices deeply, from Zen meditation to Hindu yogic philosophy.<\/p>\n

He is best known today for his essays on the spiritual life, especially his first book, The Seven Storey Mountain<\/i>. <\/p>\n

More poetry by Thomas Merton<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Sowing of Meanings by Thomas Merton See the high birds! Is theirs the song That dies among the wood-light Wounding the listener with such bright arrows? Or do they play in wheeling silences Defining in the perfect sky The bounds of (here below) our solitude, Where spring has generated lights of green To glow […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[2148,53,1394,1088,901,1288,1618,51],"class_list":["post-6050","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-poetry","tag-asperges","tag-catholic-poetry","tag-christian-mystical-poetry","tag-easter","tag-life","tag-passover","tag-renewal","tag-thomas-merton"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6050","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6050"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6050\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6051,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6050\/revisions\/6051"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6050"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6050"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6050"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}