Don't Know Much About History

[Jahfin]

The popular historian David McCullough says textbooks have become 'so politically correct as to be comic.' Meanwhile, the likes of Thomas Edison get little attention.

By BRIAN BOLDUC

'We're raising young people who are, by and large, historically illiterate," David McCullough tells me on a recent afternoon in a quiet meeting room at the Boston Public Library. Having lectured at more than 100 colleges and universities over the past 25 years, he says, "I know how much these young people—even at the most esteemed institutions of higher learning—don't know." Slowly, he shakes his head in dismay. "It's shocking."

He's right. This week, the Department of Education released the 2010 National Assessment of Educational Progress, which found that only 12% of high-school seniors have a firm grasp of our nation's history. And consider: Just 2% of those students understand the significance of Brown v. Board of Education.

Mr. McCullough began worrying about the history gap some 20 years ago, when a college sophomore approached him after an appearance at "a very good university in the Midwest." She thanked him for coming and admitted, "Until I heard your talk this morning, I never realized the original 13 colonies were all on the East Coast." Remembering the incident, Mr. McCullough's snow-white eyebrows curl in pain. "I thought, 'What have we been doing so wrong that this obviously bright young woman could get this far and not know that?'"

To read the rest of the article click here.

Edited June 20, 2011 by Jahfin

[Strider]

Thanks for posting Jahfin...I read that same article in the WSJ over the weekend and was going to post it in the Stupid People or Politically Correct thread, but you beat me to the punch.

I've had a look at some of the textbooks my nieces and godson use, and it is comical how inept and inadequate they are.

I sometimes fear this country, nay world, has gone forever down the rabbit-hole and shows no signs of climbing out.

[spidersandsnakes]

You cannot look ahead if you don't look to the past first and learn from the mistakes....but some countries NEVER learn, do they???!:)

[BIGDAN]

You cannot look ahead if you don't look to the past first and learn from the mistakes....but some countries NEVER learn, do they???!:)

Hi Spider,

No country ever learns really do they?

The Victors write the History Books, so in centuries to come you may find that China won all the world wars and Great Britain was defeated by the Socialist Workers Party outside West Bromwich Town Hall after a Led Zeppelin Reunion Concert, oh no not that again?

Regards, Danny

[redrum]

All you have to do is watch 'Jaywalking' on Leno to see the 'El Stupidos'

[chef free]

That's a great book, and not his only one. As a public school teacher of over 15 years, I am appalled and saddened by the declining quality of students. Emphasis on high stakes testing has terrorized elementary teachers into having students memorize factoids instead of teaching them HOW to think. They are being individually spoon fed to the point where they cannot learn in a group setting. Parents are either hyper-involved or have turned their kids over to the media. I only seem to give As or Fs! And when I fail them they have no consequences! Ugh! Frustrating!

[SteveAJones]

Emphasis on high stakes testing has terrorized elementary teachers into having students memorize factoids instead of teaching them HOW to think.

Dumbing down has become the new normal, but the incapacity for critical thinking as well as their lack of imagination is truly alarming.

[Silver Rider]

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/National-History-Day-prnews

National History Day - California Program Sends 87 Students to National History Day Finals at University of Maryland

Forty-four Students Participate in 18 Projects Ranked in Category, 9 Students Take Two Projects to First Place in Category

Press Release Source: National History Day - California On Monday June 20, 2011, 8:03 pm EDT

COSTA MESA, Calif., June 20, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Eighty-seven students from schools across California represented the state at the National History Day finals at the University of Maryland this week. More than 2,700 competitors from 50 states, U.S. possessions and Department of Defense schools around the world presented their projects to the judges, who included historians, museum curators, teachers and archivists.

National History Day, a year-long effort in which students learn history by becoming historian, is an evidence-based academic program that supports the newly adopted national Common Core Standards Initiative. Students conduct extensive research, interview experts and witnesses to historical events, and create projects that reflect what they learned. The program concludes with an internationally recognized academic competition each year.

California boasted 17 projects that gained ranking in their categories, encompassing 44 students in total. Of those, 9 students comprised two projects that garnered first-place standing in category. Additionally, two individuals (a student and a teacher) received special recognition and $5,000 prizes from the History Channel.

Read more

History Channel

history.com/this-day-in-history

Edited June 21, 2011 by Silver Rider

[Janet]

I went to school in the 70s and we hardly studied history at all. Fortunately I loved it and read voraciously on my own. My teenager did AP European history this past year and will do AP US history this year. She goes to private school and I think she is getting a good education but there are plenty of students there that do the minimum. AP means it is an advanced class with the possibility of obtaining college credit if the student does well enough on an exam. I really don't care if she gets college credit or not, I just want her to get the most out of her education.

Incidentally, her European history teacher was very demanding and there was a parade of parents complaining to the principal when their babies didn't get A's.

Edited June 21, 2011 by Janet

[spidersandsnakes]

Emphasis on high stakes testing has terrorized elementary teachers into having students memorize factoids instead of teaching them HOW to think. They are being individually spoon fed to the point where they cannot learn in a group setting. Parents are either hyper-involved or have turned their kids over to the media. I only seem to give As or Fs! And when I fail them they have no consequences! Ugh! Frustrating!

Young people and students are manipulated and brainwashed especially by all kinds of educators/teachers, the govt. (that NEVER says the truth especially on serious things like terrorism and where it REALLY comes from:))) and the 3rd culprit is called TV....BEWARE THE MANIPULATIVE POWERS OF T.V.:)!!!!

[spidersandsnakes]

Hi Spider,

No country ever learns really do they?

The Victors write the History Books, so in centuries to come you may find that China won all the world wars and Great Britain was defeated by the Socialist Workers Party outside West Bromwich Town Hall after a Led Zeppelin Reunion Concert, oh no not that again?

Regards, Danny

There is a saying that goes: "making mistakes is human, making many mistakes is also human, making the same mistakes over without ever trying to CORRECT them is outright DIABOLICAL"::!

Edited June 21, 2011 by spidersandsnakes

[Electrophile]

People anymore don't know much about anything. Ever seen an episode of Jaywalking on The Tonight Show? Jay goes out and talks to random people, completely unscripted, asking them the most basic GED-type questions possible. Questions like, "Who is the current Secretary of State?" or "How many stars are on the US flag?" or my all-time favorite, "Can you recite the first few lines of the Star-Spangled Banner?" It's not even just questions pertaining to the United States or US history, either. He's asked people basic math, science, history, and English questions too and all you can see is them groping around for an answer they couldn't possibly hope to get. It's embarrassing. What's worse, is that these are grown adults, people who should have learned this shit already. It's not like he's asking a 2nd grader who invented the incandescent light bulb.

There's no premium on education anymore. My sister is an 8th grade Language Arts and Social Studies teacher, and she would come home with horror stories about some of the kids she had to deal with this year. These are kids who in some cases can't read past the 3rd grade level, have horrible handwriting, don't know even the most basic of basic facts that kids in lower grades already know, and have parents whose idea of helping their kids is by not getting involved. I don't have the patience she has, because if that was me up there and I asked a student to tell me who the first President of the United States was and they couldn't tell me, I'd be tempted to backhand the little shit.

[BIGDAN]

People anymore don't know much about anything. Ever seen an episode of Jaywalking on The Tonight Show? Jay goes out and talks to random people, completely unscripted, asking them the most basic GED-type questions possible. Questions like, "Who is the current Secretary of State?" or "How many stars are on the US flag?" or my all-time favorite, "Can you recite the first few lines of the Star-Spangled Banner?" It's not even just questions pertaining to the United States or US history, either. He's asked people basic math, science, history, and English questions too and all you can see is them groping around for an answer they couldn't possibly hope to get. It's embarrassing. What's worse, is that these are grown adults, people who should have learned this shit already. It's not like he's asking a 2nd grader who invented the incandescent light bulb.

There's no premium on education anymore. My sister is an 8th grade Language Arts and Social Studies teacher, and she would come home with horror stories about some of the kids she had to deal with this year. These are kids who in some cases can't read past the 3rd grade level, have horrible handwriting, don't know even the most basic of basic facts that kids in lower grades already know, and have parents whose idea of helping their kids is by not getting involved. I don't have the patience she has, because if that was me up there and I asked a student to tell me who the first President of the United States was and they couldn't tell me, I'd be tempted to backhand the little shit.

Thought you didnt agree with HITTING KIDS? thought you were brought up PROPERLY? you change you views and opinions as often as the wind changes tack, when are we going to be free of your stupid anecdotes? not as long as you have a hole in your, oh why bother?

Regards Danny

[Walter]

parents whose idea of helping their kids is by not getting involved.

Yes, their favorite line is you're the teacher - fix 'em! Then when you try to retain them, the shit storm really starts! I understand there needs to be a form of accountability, but testing (especially when the level of what's considered proficient changes based on the scores so the state looks better) is NOT the answer. A series of mandatory portfolio artifacts would be a step in the right direction for starters, IMO.

Edit: Probably should have put this in "Stupid People" thread, just adding to the quoted comment.

Edited June 22, 2011 by Walter

[Silver Rider]

People anymore don't know much about anything. Ever seen an episode of Jaywalking on The Tonight Show? Jay goes out and talks to random people, completely unscripted, asking them the most basic GED-type questions possible. Questions like, "Who is the current Secretary of State?" or "How many stars are on the US flag?" or my all-time favorite, "Can you recite the first few lines of the Star-Spangled Banner?" It's not even just questions pertaining to the United States or US history, either. He's asked people basic math, science, history, and English questions too and all you can see is them groping around for an answer they couldn't possibly hope to get. It's embarrassing. What's worse, is that these are grown adults, people who should have learned this shit already. It's not like he's asking a 2nd grader who invented the incandescent light bulb.

There's no premium on education anymore. My sister is an 8th grade Language Arts and Social Studies teacher, and she would come home with horror stories about some of the kids she had to deal with this year. These are kids who in some cases can't read past the 3rd grade level, have horrible handwriting, don't know even the most basic of basic facts that kids in lower grades already know, and have parents whose idea of helping their kids is by not getting involved. I don't have the patience she has, because if that was me up there and I asked a student to tell me who the first President of the United States was and they couldn't tell me, I'd be tempted to backhand the little shit.

I thought this was cute.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQQbmJsRZ54

[Mattmc1973]

I will say that I found this encouraging...I stood in line for 4 hours last night at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, MI to see the Emancipation Proclamation on display. I read that it would making a rare appearance outside of Washington DC, and being a Civil War and Abraham Lincoln geek I was stoked. But I had no idea how many people would be there, I wasn't sure how to gauge the interest there may or may not be. I figured I'd wait maybe an hour. It's on display from 7:00PM last night to 7:00AM Wednesday morning...36 hours straight. It's the only 36 hours it will be on display anywhere this year, apparently it rarely leaves storage out of concern for its condition. As of 1:00 PM today, 18 hours into it, there had been 10,000 people through to see it. I never could have guessed the turnout would be so huge.

http://www.detnews.com/article/20110621/METRO/106210399/1361/11K-endure-long-lines-to-view-Emancipation-Proclamation-

[spidersandsnakes]

Upon thorough meditation, yes, I must admit many people do not know pretty much about anything these days:)!!! Let's take George Bush for example, he adnitted he didn't even know where Afghanistan was before he had sent the troops in there :)!!!!!

Edited June 22, 2011 by spidersandsnakes

[redrum]

Fred Sanford had it right.........................'Dummy!'

[Silver Rider]

I would guess that the nation's colleges and universities will now adjust their breadth and entrance requirements to test for knowledge of President Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, his Emancipation Proclamation and a review of why the premise of "separate but equal" was struck down by the Supreme Court of the United States in Brown v. Board of Education.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What to Do When America Gets an F on Its History Report Card

By Louise Mirrer

huffingtonpost.com

Can you identify a photograph of Abraham Lincoln and give two reasons why he was important? If so, you are doing better than 91 percent of American fourth graders. According to the Nation's Report Card -- the 2010 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), issued by the U.S. Department of Education -- only nine percent of fourth-grade students across the country, in public and private schools combined, could answer this question completely.

Worse still, a full 98 percent of 12th-graders could not adequately specify which social problem Brown v. Board of Education was meant to correct. What makes this failure particularly shocking is that the test quoted an excerpt from the Brown v. Board of Ed. decision: "We conclude that in the field of public education, separate but equal has no place. Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal."

whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/abrahamlincoln

Photo of Abraham Lincoln

Lincoln warned the South in his Inaugural Address: "In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow countrymen, and not in mine, is the momentous issue of civil war. The government will not assail you.... You have no oath registered in Heaven to destroy the government, while I shall have the most solemn one to preserve, protect and defend it."

Lincoln thought secession illegal, and was willing to use force to defend Federal law and the Union. When Confederate batteries fired on Fort Sumter and forced its surrender, he called on the states for 75,000 volunteers. Four more slave states joined the Confederacy but four remained within the Union. The Civil War had begun.

The son of a Kentucky frontiersman, Lincoln had to struggle for a living and for learning. Five months before receiving his party's nomination for President, he sketched his life:

"I was born Feb. 12, 1809, in Hardin County, Kentucky. My parents were both born in Virginia, of undistinguished families--second families, perhaps I should say. My mother, who died in my tenth year, was of a family of the name of Hanks.... My father ... removed from Kentucky to ... Indiana, in my eighth year.... It was a wild region, with many bears and other wild animals still in the woods. There I grew up.... Of course when I came of age I did not know much. Still somehow, I could read, write, and cipher ... but that was all."

Lincoln made extraordinary efforts to attain knowledge while working on a farm, splitting rails for fences, and keeping store at New Salem, Illinois. He was a captain in the Black Hawk War, spent eight years in the Illinois legislature, and rode the circuit of courts for many years. His law partner said of him, "His ambition was a little engine that knew no rest."

He married Mary Todd, and they had four boys, only one of whom lived to maturity. In 1858 Lincoln ran against Stephen A. Douglas for Senator. He lost the election, but in debating with Douglas he gained a national reputation that won him the Republican nomination for President in 1860.

As President, he built the Republican Party into a strong national organization. Further, he rallied most of the northern Democrats to the Union cause. On January 1, 1863, he issued the Emancipation Proclamation that declared forever free those slaves within the Confederacy.

Lincoln never let the world forget that the Civil War involved an even larger issue. This he stated most movingly in dedicating the military cemetery at Gettysburg: "that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain--that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom--and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."

Lincoln won re-election in 1864, as Union military triumphs heralded an end to the war. In his planning for peace, the President was flexible and generous, encouraging Southerners to lay down their arms and join speedily in reunion.

The spirit that guided him was clearly that of his Second Inaugural Address, now inscribed on one wall of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D. C.: "With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation's wounds.... "

On Good Friday, April 14, 1865, Lincoln was assassinated at Ford's Theatre in Washington by John Wilkes Booth, an actor, who somehow thought he was helping the South. The opposite was the result, for with Lincoln's death, the possibility of peace with magnanimity died.

showcase.netins.net/web/creative/lincoln/speeches/gettysburg

The Gettysburg Address

Gettysburg, Pennsylvania

November 19, 1863 On June 1, 1865, Senator Charles Sumner commented on what is now considered the most famous speech by President Abraham Lincoln. In his eulogy on the slain president, he called it a "monumental act." He said Lincoln was mistaken that "the world will little note, nor long remember what we say here." Rather, the Bostonian remarked, "The world noted at once what he said, and will never cease to remember it. The battle itself was less important than the speech."

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

The Emancipation Proclamation

January 1, 1863A Transcription

By the President of the United States of America:

A Proclamation.

Whereas, on the twenty-second day of September, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, a proclamation was issued by the President of the United States, containing, among other things, the following, to wit:

"That on the first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, all persons held as slaves within any State or designated part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free; and the Executive Government of the United States, including the military and naval authority thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons, and will do no act or acts to repress such persons, or any of them, in any efforts they may make for their actual freedom.

"That the Executive will, on the first day of January aforesaid, by proclamation, designate the States and parts of States, if any, in which the people thereof, respectively, shall then be in rebellion against the United States; and the fact that any State, or the people thereof, shall on that day be, in good faith, represented in the Congress of the United States by members chosen thereto at elections wherein a majority of the qualified voters of such State shall have participated, shall, in the absence of strong countervailing testimony, be deemed conclusive evidence that such State, and the people thereof, are not then in rebellion against the United States."

Now, therefore I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, by virtue of the power in me vested as Commander-in-Chief, of the Army and Navy of the United States in time of actual armed rebellion against the authority and government of the United States, and as a fit and necessary war measure for suppressing said rebellion, do, on this first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and in accordance with my purpose so to do publicly proclaimed for the full period of one hundred days, from the day first above mentioned, order and designate as the States and parts of States wherein the people thereof respectively, are this day in rebellion against the United States, the following, to wit: Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, (except the Parishes of St. Bernard, Plaquemines, Jefferson, St. John, St. Charles, St. James Ascension, Assumption, Terrebonne, Lafourche, St. Mary, St. Martin, and Orleans, including the City of New Orleans) Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia, (except the forty-eight counties designated as West Virginia, and also the counties of Berkley, Accomac, Northampton, Elizabeth City, York, Princess Ann, and Norfolk, including the cities of Norfolk and Portsmouth[)], and which excepted parts, are for the present, left precisely as if this proclamation were not issued.

And by virtue of the power, and for the purpose aforesaid, I do order and declare that all persons held as slaves within said designated States, and parts of States, are, and henceforward shall be free; and that the Executive government of the United States, including the military and naval authorities thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of said persons.

And I hereby enjoin upon the people so declared to be free to abstain from all violence, unless in necessary self-defence; and I recommend to them that, in all cases when allowed, they labor faithfully for reasonable wages.

And I further declare and make known, that such persons of suitable condition, will be received into the armed service of the United States to garrison forts, positions, stations, and other places, and to man vessels of all sorts in said service.

And upon this act, sincerely believed to be an act of justice, warranted by the Constitution, upon military necessity, I invoke the considerate judgment of mankind, and the gracious favor of Almighty God.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.

Done at the City of Washington, this first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty three, and of the Independence of the United States of America the eighty-seventh.

By the President: ABRAHAM LINCOLN

WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State.

archives.gov/exhibits/featured_documents/emancipation_proclamation

nationalcenter.org/brown

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES

Brown v. Board of Education, 347 U.S. 483 (1954) (USSC+)

347 U.S. 483

Argued December 9, 1952

Reargued December 8, 1953

Decided May 17, 1954

APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF KANSAS*

Syllabus

Segregation of white and Negro children in the public schools of a State solely on the basis of race, pursuant to state laws permitting or requiring such segregation, denies to Negro children the equal protection of the laws guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment -- even though the physical facilities and other "tangible" factors of white and Negro schools may be equal.

(a) The history of the Fourteenth Amendment is inconclusive as to its intended effect on public education.

(b ) The question presented in these cases must be determined not on the basis of conditions existing when the Fourteenth Amendment was adopted, but in the light of the full development of public education and its present place in American life throughout the Nation.

(c ) Where a State has undertaken to provide an opportunity for an education in its public schools, such an opportunity is a right which must be made available to all on equal terms.

(d) Segregation of children in public schools solely on the basis of race deprives children of the minority group of equal educational opportunities, even though the physical facilities and other "tangible" factors may be equal.

(e) The "separate but equal" doctrine adopted in Plessy v. Ferguson, 163 U.S. 537, has no place in the field of public education.

(f) The cases are restored to the docket for further argument on specified questions relating to the forms of the decrees.

Opinion

WARREN

MR. CHIEF JUSTICE WARREN delivered the opinion of the Court.

Read more...

Edited June 23, 2011 by Silver Rider

[Silver Rider]

Linda Brown was the plaintiff in the historic case of Brown v. Board of Education that overturned the "separate but equal" doctrine as it pertained to education.

Edited June 22, 2011 by Silver Rider

[Starbreaker]

Only 12% of High-School Seniors have a solid grip on History and only 2% understand the significance of Brown v. Board of Education? No wonder most people my age don't think I'm funny. They're too stupid to understand my humor.

Edited June 23, 2011 by Starbreaker

[spidersandsnakes]

Only 12% of High-School Seniors have a solid grip on History and only 2% understand the significance of Brown v. Board of Education? No wonder most people my age don't think I'm funny. They're too stupid to understand my humor.

:D :D :D

[BonzoLikeDrumer]

I do believe the reason we know so little about the truth of what has happen in antiquity is that there was no real-time way to document thing's besides the written hand. And if you go back to the really early day's when only a small amount of the earth's population could read and write and traveling a long distance was very dangerous unless you could afford protection. Well you can see where I'm going with this right?

Edited June 23, 2011 by BonzoLikeDrumer

[spidersandsnakes]

I do believe the reason we know so little about the truth of what has happen in antiquity is that there was no real-time way to document thing's besides the written hand. And if you go back to the really early day's when only a small amount of the earth's population could read and write and traveling a long distance was very dangerous unless you could afford protection. Well you can see where I'm going with this right?

[sweetredwine]

The popular historian David McCullough says textbooks have become 'so politically correct as to be comic.' Meanwhile, the likes of Thomas Edison get little attention.

By BRIAN BOLDUC

'We're raising young people who are, by and large, historically illiterate," David McCullough tells me on a recent afternoon in a quiet meeting room at the Boston Public Library. Having lectured at more than 100 colleges and universities over the past 25 years, he says, "I know how much these young people—even at the most esteemed institutions of higher learning—don't know." Slowly, he shakes his head in dismay. "It's shocking."

He's right. This week, the Department of Education released the 2010 National Assessment of Educational Progress, which found that only 12% of high-school seniors have a firm grasp of our nation's history. And consider: Just 2% of those students understand the significance of Brown v. Board of Education.

Mr. McCullough began worrying about the history gap some 20 years ago, when a college sophomore approached him after an appearance at "a very good university in the Midwest." She thanked him for coming and admitted, "Until I heard your talk this morning, I never realized the original 13 colonies were all on the East Coast." Remembering the incident, Mr. McCullough's snow-white eyebrows curl in pain. "I thought, 'What have we been doing so wrong that this obviously bright young woman could get this far and not know that?'"

Thomas Edison? What about Thomas Merton??? !!!

"What have we been doing so wrong that this obviously bright young woman could get this far and not know" who Thomas Merton was???

from http://www.essortmen...aphy-20624.html

A modern pilgrim, Thomas Merton the Catholic mystic, explored and recounted the quinessential spiritual journey in books and works that have lasted many years and served as spiritual guide to thousands.

For the great Catholic mystic Thomas Merton, religion was not always a source of endless joy and contemplation. Young Merton, born in France in 1915 and raised by his father after his mother died, was often torn by conflicting energies""zeal both for the sensory life around him in scenery, buildings, great art and food, and for the something more that dwelt in the spiritual realm. Tortured by a hard, cruel life in an ascetic private boys' school in England, Merton also studied at Cambridge University where he began to develop an amazing capacity for knowledge, learning, and understanding, and by the time he entered Columbia University, was ripe for being challenged by the deeper conflicts that had simmered in him for a long time.

He was a passionate young man, ready for love both sensual and divine and drawn to quick and fervent expressions. By the end of his student years at Columbia he felt an almost physical overpowering of his person, as if God, like Thompson's Hound of Heaven, had fled him and found him. According to Merton's own early autobiographical memoir, The Seven Storey Mountain, published in 1948, just sitting n the rear of some Manhattan church one day at Mass, he felt so drawn to God as expressed in the Catholic faith he could no more deny its pull than deny his own identity. He studied for commitment to the Catholic faith and was received in the church as a young man.But Merton's struggles with faith's call were not over. He continued on at Columbia, teaching and exploring the impact of his faith upon his life. He also worked at the Roman Catholic Center in Harlem, always being moved by the civil rights and peace movements in this country and elsewhere. As a young man he wrote articles and journal pieces that keep us abreast of his spiritual development in a startlingly clear way. Early on, Merton believed it odd that "we think of the gift of contemplation. Infused contemplation, mystical prayer, as something essentially strange and esoteric reserved for a small class of almost unnatural beings and prohibited to everyone else?"

Instead, Merton was convinced that, "These gifts are part of the normal equipment of Christian sanctity. They are given to us at Baptism, and if they are given it is presumably because God wants them to be developed." He began making a commitment to a life enlightened by God's gifts of Wisdom and Understanding in order to "increase and perfect our love for Him." To this end he entered the Trappist Order of contemplative religious at Our Lady of Gethsemane monastery in Kentucky, and in 1949 was ordained as Father Louis.The vibrant, outgoing, virile and passionate young man became a cloistered monk who clearly found a surprisingly right venue for his all-involving love of God and his desire to perfect that love of God within him.

In the early days of his time at Gethsemane Merton suffered through privation, loneliness and the rigors of monastic life. It was only when his superiors allowed him to express himself onthe printed page and even fostered his amazing ability to chronicle and comment on spiritual development that he became more free, happiest in a curious rhythm of writing in solitude, then coming "out" for interviews, discussions, classes, then withdrawing again for further reflection and commitment to paper. Those who met him were amazed to find him such an earthy, hale and hearty husky fellow, with a loud sense of humor and a taste for beer and the everyday things of life.

Over the next 20 years, from 1948 when Mountain and Seeds of Contemplation were published, he wrote countless other books and essays, and volumes of poetry, which he often continued to rewrite and perfect, even while producing more and better and refined writings on similar topics. Fourteen years after writing Seeds of Contemplation, for example, he produced a startlingly fresh version of the book called New Seeds of Contemplation, which has become a classic in the genre of Christian writing. Other favorite works by Merton include The Waters of Siloe, 1949, The Sign of Jonas, 1953, and The Silent Life, 1957. He also wrote fervently about liturgical renewal in the Catholic Church.

Merton's spiritual journey within became the subject of tens of tracts and books on meditation and contemplation, social justice and ecumenism that have guided believers ever since. His books still sell, and commentators who write on his writings continue to sell, as well. For example, James Finley's Merton's Palace of Nowhere deals with Merton's understanding of spiritual self-identity. Merton's whole spirituality, Finley says, pivots in the question of human identity, his message is that "we are one with God."

Toward the end of his life Merton grew increasingly interested in bringing people together, both in the communal sense, and in bridging obvious differences, such as race and religion. He studied Eastern religions and became enamored of the philosophies of Buddhism. On a trip to the Far East he met several times with the Dalai Lama as he prepared to give a presentation geared for bringing together East and West in a major world conference. A few hours before he was to speak, Merton died by being accidentally electrocuted in his bathtub in the hotel in Bangkok where he was staying. He was 53 years old.

Another Merton associate at the monastery at Gethsemane, writes that whatever Merton was doing, whether talking or writing on prayer, monastic life, liturgy, the psalms or on civil rights, peace and war, nuclear disarmament or ancient cultures, "he was expressing the fullness of the nature of contemplation. For contemplation for Merton was not simply one aspect of life, still less some esoteric phenomenon attainable by only a few in life. For him, contemplation was the fundamental reality in life. It was what made life real and alive. It was what makes us to be truly human."

In one of his last works, The New Man, Merton wrote that contemplation is the perfection of love and knowledge, and "the highest and most paradoxical form of self realization, attained by apparent self-annihilation." His radical voice for faith and humanity continues to echo in the world of mystical and spiritual writing.

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Today let's remember the 43rd anniversary of Thomas Merton's (Father Maria Louis) Heavenly birthday by lighting e-candles together - this link http://www.gratefuln...2C%202011%0D%0A

will take you to his memorial.

Blessings and Light/Love/Life!

--Sherri

Edited December 10, 2011 by sweetredwine