Fr. Louis, get your gun!

I read this on Mere Comments, and I think it will definitely have its appeal to the Thomas Merton fans among us, or even just the Gethsemani fans (love that fudge!). It is a first-person account by Fr. Reardon about Thomas Merton and his gun.

We were never sure what to make of Merton’s possession of a gun, and no one seemed to know what sort of gun it was (not that Merton would have grasped the subtle distinction between a rifle and a shotgun). Two considerations made this whole business a puzzle.

First, in the woods surrounding Merton’s hermitage there was nothing more menacing than a few squirrels, with whom Merton, in the manner of St. Francis, seemed to be on enviably good terms.

Second, the idea of Merton with a gun brought stark terror to those of us who had seen Merton’s attempts to drive a jeep.