When the Trees Say Nothing: Writings on Nature

The first collection of Thomas Merton's nature writings serves as a primer on eco-spirituality. Thomas Merton: millions know him as the author of The Seven Storey Mountain, the international bestseller and a modern spiritual classic. Now, in the first collection of his writings on nature, Merton is revealed as a man whose spirituality is rooted in nature, an environmentalist ahead of his time. These writings reveal Merton's approach to ecology as a spiritual issue that exposes the degree of human alienation from the sacredness of the planet. Kathleen Deignan, has skillfully grouped over 300 of Merton's nature writings into thematic sections on the seasons, elements, creatures and other topics and has added an informative introduction. A foreword by renowned environmental and spiritual mentor Thomas Berry and art by John Giuliani complete this important compilation.

About the Author :
Thomas Merton (1915-1968) is arguably the most influential American Catholic author of the 20th century. His autobiography, The Seven Storey Mountain, has sold over one million copies and has been translated into over 15 languages. He wrote over 60 other books and hundreds of poems and articles on topics ranging from monastic spirituality to civil rights, nonviolence, and the nuclear arms race.

Review :
"An absence of a sense of the sacred is the basic flaw in many of our efforts at ecologically or environmentally adjusting our human presence to the natural world. It has been said, 'We will not save what we do not love.' It is also true that we will neither love nor save what we do not experience as sacred. In our present attitude the natural world remains a commodity to be bought and sold, not a sacred reality to be venerated. ...Eventually only our sense of the sacred will save us. Merton's gift, eloquently captured by Kathleen Deignan, is this sense of the sacred throughout the entire range of the natural world."
From the Foreword by Thomas Berry (1914-2009), Passionist Priest, Expert on Ecology and World Religions

"A vivid image in my memory: Thomas Merton standing in a redwoods clearing. 'Here is where everything connects, ' he says softly. If you long to find this connecting point, read on. Merton would be thrilled with this book." --Brother David Steindl-Rast, O.S.B., Cofounder of gratefulness.org

"This splendid volume by Kathleen Deignan evokes the sense of the sacred. Merton's carefully chosen texts on nature are wedded with John Giuliani's drawings, resulting in a handsome book for all seasons." --Br. Patrick Hart, O.C.S.O., Abbey of Gethsemani, General Editor of The Journals of Thomas Merton

"A lovely book! Kathleen Deignan's selection and arrangement of passages from Merton's writings on nature--enhanced by John Giuliani's evocative drawings--not only provide wonderful insights into the monks sacramental vision of the world, but also inspire a deepened attentiveness to creation on our own part as well." --Patrick O'Connell, Editor of The Merton Seasonal, Coauthor of The Thomas Merton Encyclopedia