8 x 11 in. Signed Print
"We have what we seek. We don't have to rush after it. It was there all the time, and if we give it time it will make itself known to us."
American priest, Writer, and Trappist monk, Merton has been one of the most important voices on spirituality in the 20th Century. While a member of 'The Common Friars", I lived in a cabin in the woods, close to our community house, for a few years. Although I was not a hermit, after a full day's work on the farm, and with the other friars, I was often alone with my thoughts most evenings by the woodstove. Merton's "Thoughts in Solitude" was often by my side along with his autobiography " The Seven Story Mountain" Later, when I fell in love with my partner Evie, "Love and Living" was a constant read. Most importantly during this time, Merton helped me understand that a person knows when they have found their vocation when they stop thinking about how to live and begin to live. I paint him here in the woods, near the Abbey of Gethsemani in Kentucky, Sauntering around peacefully with no destination in mind. Merton died in December 1968 at the age of 53.