Review of Don Grayston's "Thomas Merton and the Noonday Demon: The Camaldoli Correspondence" by Ron Dart

Don Grayston, Thomas Merton and the Noonday Demon: The Camaldoli Correspondence (Eugene, Oregon: Cascade Books, 2015).

The discovery by Don Grayston in the summer of 2008 of the forgotten correspondence between, primarily, Thomas Merton and Anselmo Giabbani in the years 1952-1956 can be read and studied at a variety of levels. There is, at the simplest and most elementary level, the struggle of Merton to find his contemplative vocation in a Cistercian monastery (Gethsemani) that had, in many ways, forfeited its contemplative heritage---the letters can be seen as a clash between a monk seeking greater vocational liberty in contrast to ecclesial authority—freedom versus order—Camaldoli contra Gethsemani.  If this is the only level that the issue is approached from, the core of the dilemma will be missed.

The title of the book captures the deeper essence of the issue and, in many ways, makes Merton’s struggle a more complex perennial and contemporary one. What is the noonday demon that Merton and other desert mothers and fathers (and equally pertinent for our time conscious spiritual seekers) must face and not flinch from? What does the metaphor of the noonday demon reveal to us and why is this angel of light such an alluring tempter for today? The honeymoon phase of the spiritual journey often begins with much hope and many possibilities, but the time comes, when the deeper journey of transformation must be faced. Often such a place of transformation begins and ends by being grounded and rooted in a specific place and community—for Merton, of course, it was the monastery of Gethsemani.  But, for many who are not monks and nuns, the lived reality can be family, community and parish life. Needless to say, such realities are imperfect and can become sites of frustration, irritation, betrayals, disappointments and strained relationships—this is where and when the noonday demon arrives. The tempter comes and suggests we go to a better place with more sensitive people (more like ourselves). Our place of transformation is demonized and the other places, people, teachers are idealized and romanticized. The noonday demon, through a variety of hints and tantalizing whispers, also, suggests we leave the very inner place God is working in us to transform us. This inattentive and predictable tendency flee from the inner and outer places where the process of deification can be done is the work of the noonday demon—all sorts of elevated promises offered if we but heed the tempter’s sweet and alluring voice.   

Merton had reached a place at Gethsemani after being there for ten years in which the glow and charm was gone—he was restless with the place. The 36 letters (most extant) that Grayston includes in the book (pages 60-160) deal with Merton’s letters to and responses from different actors in this noonday demon drama. Don does a superb job of setting the dilemma and issue within a classical context and Merton’s living through his own version of boredom, restlessness and an idealized other place. Merton’s abbot, wisely so, saw the problem for what it was (an all too common monastic and human problem)—the false notion that by leaving situation and place, the problem would be solved is itself the problem—we see this melodrama played out often today by the multiple spiritual butterflies that flit from church to church, conference to conference, book to book, spiritual director/retreat to spiritual retreat/director. Merton knew the temptation of the noonday demon who meets us, also, at various times of the journey—this is why the vow stability as a spiritual discipline, if not rightly understood or wisely heeded, can give way to the noonday demon. 

It is significant to note that when Merton was in the midst of longing for a greater solitude that Gethsemani seemed not to offer he was, as the “Preface” to Thoughts in Solitude vividly states, living with greater solitude in 1953-1954—Thoughts in Solitude is the published product of such freedom offered by Abbot James. There is, therefore, this tendency by Merton to often ignore what he had been given or, equally problematic, he sent mixed and conniving messages about his situation at Gethsemani to others—to Don Grayston’s credit, as much as he admires Merton, he does not romanticise or approach Merton’s life and writings in an uncritical manner.

Thomas Merton and the Noonday Demon is a finely crafted tome—“The Camaldoli Correspondence” is the obvious centerpiece of the book and an informative “Introduction” and a lengthy reflection on the subtler meaning and temptation of the noonday demon of acedia brings the book to a fit and fine close. Don has, obviously, thought well and wisely about the reality of the noonday demon in the classical tradition, Merton’s journey and our confrontation with such a tempter. Merton remained at Gethsemani and, in doing so, was loyal to his vow of stability---lesser pilgrims are taken in by the noonday demon and never go beyond a limited part of the pathway—they are denied the greater sights for the simple reason they are not willing to put in the work needed to reach such summits—Merton did his homework and Thomas Merton and the Noonday Demon makes it abundantly clear just what sort of seeing and work must be done to resist the acedia of the noonday demon.

Ron Dart