BOOK REVIEW: When the Trees Say Nothing - Writings on Nature

November 11, 2004

EDITOR'S NOTE: This book review is sponsored by the Religious Education Media Center as a service to those interested in developing their own spirituality. Books featured in this column can be borrowed from the diocesan media center.

You may request this or other books by writing Deacon Larry Sitzman, Religious Education Media Center, 1821 Jackson St., Sioux City, IA 51102, e-mail him at larrys@scdiocese.org or phone (712) 255-7933.

To request this book, ask for PR 1373.

Msgr. Mervin Hood, a retired priest of the Diocese of Sioux City who resides in Fort Dodge, offers this book review on "When the Trees say Nothing - writings on Nature," Thomas Merton, edited by Kathleen Diegnan, drawings by John Giuliani, foreword by Thomas Barry, Notre Dame, Indiana: Sorin Books.

If you are a Thomas Merton fan, you will enjoy the gleanings from his writings on nature, the four seasons. What would life be like without enjoying the four seasons as they come and go?

Although he died over 35 years ago (1968), Thomas Merton, (Father Louis) still welds a great influence through his many writings. Kathleen Diegnan has ferreted out gleanings from his many writings. We see the many influences for his spiritual growth as he kept his relentless search for a closer relationship with the Lord, Jesus.

For Merton, all creation reflects the goodness of God, we are chosen to go to him. Merton brings out the presence of God in the sights and sounds around him. He acknowledges the presence of God made known to him through the physical and living world about him.

In all his travels, Merton sensed the divine, the handiwork of God and was able to hand this to us through his reflections while in solitude.

What a walk in the woods would do for one, or a walk through a city park, peaceful, quiet, life presence in nature.

Merton sensed an appreciation of the simple things in life, a sense of God all day. He shows that he was tuned to God in his daily journey of faith.

Merton seems to have something to say to all of us. We often kill everything around us, even when we think we respect nature and life.

Merton, in his search for a closer relationship with God, looks for the presence during the four seasons of the world that surrounds him.

Reflections from Merton can help us in our own journey of faith, making us more aware of God's presence in our lives through appreciation of nature, the seasons of the year. Whether you are a fan of Merton or not, you would enjoy and benefit from these reflections presented to us through "When the Trees Say Nothing."