{"id":2335,"date":"2008-03-03T17:24:00","date_gmt":"2008-03-03T17:24:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/deaconsbench\/2008\/03\/isnt-the-seven-storey-mountain-next-to-space-mountain.html"},"modified":"2008-03-03T17:24:00","modified_gmt":"2008-03-03T17:24:00","slug":"isnt-the-seven-storey-mountain-next-to-space-mountain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/2008\/03\/isnt-the-seven-storey-mountain-next-to-space-mountain.html","title":{"rendered":"Isn’t the Seven Storey Mountain next to Space Mountain?"},"content":{"rendered":"

I stumbled on this sad and sobering testimony today in the America blog, In All Things<\/a>, from a California undergraduate professor: <\/p>\n

<\/a> While reaching for examples to explain 20th century interpretations of salvation as the movement from inauthentic to authentic existence, I confidently asked how many in the room had read Thomas Merton, thinking I could invite a student to share what they’d learned from Merton that could illustrate the point at hand. Out of 33 students, zero hands went up. Then I asked, okay, how many had ever *heard* of Merton. Again, out of 33 students, with probably half (at least) coming from more or less Catholic backgrounds, *zero* hands went up. <\/p>\n

Earlier in the class, when I mentioned a theological question my 2-year old daughter had asked, a young woman in the class asked if I had taken my daughter to Disney. (The answer is no.) In response, I asked the class how many of *them* had gone to Disney. A full 32 of 33 students raised animated hands. <\/p>\n

(Vincent Miller, in reflections occasioned by his own young daughter, well characterizes the transition to Disney language in his excellent book Consuming Religion<\/i>, where on page 6 he memorably (and critically) writes: “Gloria in Excelsis Deo! Hakuna Matata!”)<\/p>\n

I left the lesson that day with a keen awareness for how much work must be done in entering the world of thought, emotion, and intuition of this post-post-Vatican II generation. And in bringing the worlds of thought, emotion, and intuition from other theological times and places into my students’ sensibilities. It seems to me a task both daunting and absolutely essential.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

You’ll find no one who loves all things Disney more than Your Humble Blogger — my wife and I even own a timeshare on Disney property<\/a> in Florida — but I’m also crazy for Merton. He was a guiding influence in my vocation (as he was for so many others a generation or two back). It pains me to see his influence beginning to disappear. <\/p>\n

More young Catholics need to discover him, and learn from him. Before he disappears into the dusty vaults of pre-Vatican II history.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I stumbled on this sad and sobering testimony today in the America blog, In All Things, from a California undergraduate professor: While reaching for examples to explain 20th century interpretations of salvation as the movement from inauthentic to authentic existence, I confidently asked how many in the room had read Thomas Merton, thinking I could…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":365,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2335","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-this-and-that","category-thomas-merton"],"yoast_head":"\nIsn't the Seven Storey Mountain next to Space Mountain? - The Deacon's Bench<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/2008\/03\/isnt-the-seven-storey-mountain-next-to-space-mountain.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Isn't the Seven Storey Mountain next to Space Mountain? 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