A fascinating account of Thomas Merton's conflicted relationship with his abbot, Dom James Fox-by an esteemed modern Merton scholar.
Roger Lipsey is a biographer, art historian, editor, and translator. He is the author of An Art of Our Own- The Spiritual in Twentieth-Century Art; Angelic Mistakes- The Art of Thomas Merton; and most recentlyHammarskj ld- A Life,hailed as the definitive Dag Hammarskj ld biography.
"A minor masterpiece of moral restraint and historical
reconstruction, and by my lights, a moving portrait of Thomas
Merton’s heroic, lifelong struggle with pettiness and bureaucratic
restraint. Lipsey gives us a side of Merton seldom seen—Merton the
employee and company man—and surprisingly this reveals aspects of
the writer's character not visible from any other perspective. A
milestone in Merton scholarship."—Robert Inchausti, editor of The
Pocket Thomas Merton and author of Thomas Merton's American
Prophecy
“Roger Lipsey’s premise that Thomas Merton and Dom James Fox
were each other’s unsolved koan is deftly illustrated in
this, the most complete and illuminating study of Merton’s
middle monastic years. His engaging writing combines (in the
matter of Merton’s indult) the intrigue of a John le Carré novel
with a poetic closing as beautiful as any requiescant in pace
ever sung.”—Bonnie Thurston, Merton scholar and author of To
Everything a Season: A Spirituality of Time
“Make Peace Before the Sun Goes Down is an enthralling book which I
read straight through in two sittings. It describes in detail the
dysfunctional relationship between Thomas Merton and Abbot James
Fox over a period of some twenty years. Both men were powerful,
each in his own way, competitive and deeply flawed. Though neither
would admit it, they were probably too much alike to cohabit
without friction. Because they were men publicly dedicated to a
spiritual life much of the arm-wrestling was hidden under a façade
of piety and politeness. Merton’s attitude is well known from his
private journals; the position of Abbot Fox had to be sought in the
archives and in the memories of those who knew both. Roger Lipsey’s
narrative makes it possible for readers to arrive at a more nuanced
perception of the tangled webs these two men wove around themselves
and to interpret the relationship in a more balanced way. This
study is essential reading for any future Merton
biographer.”—Michael Casey, OCSO, author of Sacred Reading and
Toward God
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