Dear friends,

I do not believe that I have ever had an original thought. My life is apparently one amalgam of those who have influenced me in one way or another, for better or for worse. So, in the spirit of last week’s post, I would like to continue my introduction by introducing you to a few of those people who have significantly contributed to my sense of self and the world. Here are three in particular.

Thomas Merton (1915-68)

Merton was a Trappist monk in Kentucky and a prolific writer (a darn good one, too). I believe he is most well-known for his bestselling autobiography, The Seven Storey Mountain. This makes him the first monk with a bestselling autobiography since St Augustine of Hippo and his Confessions in the fourth century! The Seven Storey Mountain outlines his conversion story in striking, inspiring terms; but his devotional writings, like New Seeds of Contemplation, have affected me the most. I could never get through very many pages in these books in a single sitting, because they really do inspire one to put the book down and go pray.

He died tragically young. This happened in Thailand during a conference, where he was at the forefront of interreligious monastic dialogue. His work in this manner made him a bit of a controversial figure. But chatting with Buddhists was not the only thing that got him in trouble with his own flock: he had much to say about war and social issues, especially around nuclear proliferation. It is most profound for me, as a reader, to see the way that Merton saw other people, and his capability to witness the unlevelled compassion in which God holds his creation. He models the monastic worldview, one drawn away from the world in order to see the world in creative light. Thus, we see in him a careful and sober vision of Jesus Christ within every one of his neighbors.

Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1821-1781)

Dostoyevsky is, in my humble opinion, the greatest writer to have written. Devils and The Brothers Karamazov, among my favorites, see the human condition with such profound clarity. His work was lauded memorably by Freud, Joyce, Hemingway, Kafka, and Woolf, to name a few. The author himself is very complicated and difficult to get a handle on, and indeed wrote for many years, so it is a rather complex endeavor to find what he himself believed (albeit, in Devils, he does seem to let go a bit and reveal more about his opinions in his old age).

What truly sets Dostoyevsky apart is his honesty. He is apparently utterly unconcerned with smoothing over the difficulties of this life. Many of us struggle with the so-called “problem of evil.” But Dostoyevsky looks that problem in the eye and makes it even more difficult. One sees this so harshly in Karamazov, in which one character, Ivan, describes nauseating stories of the unmotivated killing of infants (which FD himself pulled from real events in the Russian newspapers). Where is God in situations like this? Karamozov seems to be one (very) long answer to the question.

Rowan Williams

Williams was the 104th Archbishop of Canterbury, and is a great hero of mine. This Welsh bishop-scholar led the Anglican Communion in perhaps its most turbulent time. He has a vast range of books, from a highly academic book on the early heretic Arius, to his recent, very accessible, Discovering Christianity, which is my favorite book to give to new Christians or those interested in the faith. He even has a number of poetry collections!

Williams has taught me, more than anything else, that God is not a thing that we can possess. God is completely other than the world: God has created the world, and is actively sustaining all life, but God is not another object in the world like you or I. In other words, God and humanity do not occupy the same space. This principle, once it is worked out, carries significant implications for our Christology, our understanding of ourselves, the way we read the Bible, and, indeed, our political convictions.

These three writers have meant much to me in the last years. They have been my mentors. I would love to hear about your mentors. I believe God puts certain people in our lives, either physically or literarily, for the sake of our growth and progression in the spiritual life. Whose writings do you cherish the most? Who are your mentors? Find me at church (or write me) and tell me about the people who have influenced the way you have become who you are today.

-Micah