Tahoe Reading

I spent much of my vacation in Tahoe reading Thomas Merton's autobiography, 7 Storey Mountain. Here's a conversation I had with Brett about it:

Joe: Dude, you have to read Seven Storey Mountain. It's crazy.

Brett: Did it blow your mind?

Joe: No, it doesn't blow, it seepes. Like a grace filled jacuzzi.

I was proud of myself for thinking up that one on the spot.

The book tracks his spiritual journey from a young, alcoholic womanizer, to becoming a monk when he was 26. The seven storey mountain is a reference to Dante's vision of purgatory, a laborious climb up to unification with God and sainthood.

I've talked about him before, but Thomas was the son of Owen Merton, a post-impressionist painter with some beautiful watercolors. His mother died when he was 6 and he spent his juvenile years running around on painting trips with his father to places like Bermuda and the South of France.

I'm jealous because he knew English, French, and Latin by the time he was 15. I can't even speak Spanish very well.

His book makes you want to become a Catholic. He talks about the sacraments and the saints and the Church in such a way that the book really does feel like a jacuzzi.