Introduction

Thomas Merton (1915-1968) is viewed by many as one of the most important Christian writers of the 20^th century. George Grant (1918-1988) is considered to be one of the most significant public intellectuals in Canada in the latter half of the 20^th century. Both Merton and Grant had an integrated vision of the faith journey that, judiciously so, threaded together a contemplative vision, life in the church and a prophetic and public commitment to the larger issues of peace and justice. 

There are those who elevate the notions of contemplation and spirituality to the point in which spirituality and religion become, almost, enemies—the former is idealized, the latter demonized. There are those who ignore the deeper demands of the contemplative life, bury themselves in multiple church and parish activities and never enter the quieter and slower moving depths of the faith journey—it’s a case of the Mary-Martha, Martha and Mary dilemma—which should be prioritized and why? contemplation or action, action or contemplation? Then, there are those who attempt, always imperfectly and inadequately so, to live the contemplative journey within the religious framework of the church. Such an approach often ignores the broader and more comprehensive reality of public life that touches such perennial issues of justice and peace:  economics, ecology, politics, social issues, militarism and culture are part of such realities. There are, of course, those who fragment the sacred and profane and reduce the issue of justice and peace, the hot button issues in the culture wars, to the secular realm—there are always tendencies, when this is done, to slip into the political ideology of the right, centre or left when defining, clarifying and acting on the larger and more significant issues of justice and peace. It should be noted at the outset that Merton and Grant had a highly integrated and holistic notion of peace and justice, hence to understand their thinking, such a perspective must be embraced.