The Sound of Listening: A Retreat Journal from Thomas Merton's Hermitage

John Dear's journal of prayers, poems and reflections during a November 1996 stay at the cottage where Thomas Merton lived during the 1960s on the grounds of the Abbey of Gethsemani, a Trappist Monastery, near Louisville, Kentucky. The conclusion, "Apostles Creed, Updated," sums up Christian belief in a statement and prayer that has been used around the country in liturgies and retreats.

"It's a real soul art to be engaged fever pitch in social action and to be a contemplative, too. John Dear, the activist, brings us to the still, dark places where he wrestles demons and waits to be touched by God. We wait with him and are touched, too, by the silence and a quickened desire to live simpler, more generous, more engaged lives."

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Excerpts:
Apostles' Creed
The Prayer of St. Francis, Updated