Merton Artifacts ~ a collection

Collecting Thomas Merton began for me only a few years ago. Long before I began collecting I had been reading his books, finding myself transformed by them. He spoke a language that I yearned to hear and he affected my thought process in a way a glass of water would affect a person's thirst. I felt greatly satisfied any time I read his writing, but not permanently so. I always thirsted again to read more and learn more about the man, his life and his thoughts. At some point I began to realize that it was his hunger to know God that I was most attracted to. His hunger reflected my own hunger. Underneath his words was always that deep yearning to know his Creator. Indeed, at times he seemed not only to have found Him, but he could also articulate in writing what this meant to him. No small feat, and no small effect it created in me. I have been discovering God in new ways in my life ever since.

The reasons I started collecting Merton are not so easy for me to understand or explain. They have something to do with honoring his work in a tangible way (something he would cringe at I am sure), and sharing the development of my own spiritual formation with others on the same path. Meeting people who have been touched by Merton has always borne fruit for my journey.

My hope is that by developing this website others will see the breadth of what Merton has left us and will perhaps look more closely at his effects on us all.

- Albert Romkema