On Saturday May 18, David M. Odorisio, the editor of Thomas Merton in California, led a workshop on the Trappist monk Thomas Merton that included presentations, conversations, Centering Prayer, and lunch. We gathered at Christ Church Eureka (625 15th Street Eureka CA) at 10 AM, took an hour-long lunch break at 12 PM, and then resumed our conversations from 1 PM to 3 PM. David’s book Thomas Merton in California has put Eureka and Humboldt County on the map for tens of thousands of Thomas Merton fans and contemplatives around the world.
On Sunday May 19, 2024 (Pentecost Sunday), David preached at the 8 AM and 10:30 AM Holy Eucharist services at Christ Episcopal Church Eureka.
Thomas Merton in Eureka this Pentecost!
May 2024 Chronicle Article
One of my first visits to Eureka was back in 2012 during a road trip with two close friends and fellow admirers of the world-renowned Trappist monk Thomas Merton.[1] We called our trip a “Mertonian pilgrimage” since we visited several places that Thomas Merton wrote about in his journals during his visit: Mount Shasta, the Avenue of the Giants, the Lost Coast, and the Redwoods Monastery. Little did I know at the time that I would end up living in Eureka six years later and serving as the rector of Christ Episcopal Church. Also, little did I know that our trip would be recorded on the final page of the book Thomas Merton in California, which contains the largest remaining uncatalogued repository of Merton’s legacy, including the final conference talks that he gave in the US before he died.
One of my fellow pilgrims was Professor David Odorisio who recently edited the book Thomas Merton in California, in which he writes, “My first pilgrimage behind the ‘redwood curtain’ was co-authored alongside Robert K. Peach and Daniel DeForest London, introducing me to Redwoods Monastery and the Lost Coast over a decade ago. The seeds for this project were planted then and there.”[2]
David Odorisio visited Christ Church back in 2019, when he joined us for our Stations of the Cross Sacred Saunter and then preached at our Good Friday Solemn Liturgy. He visited us again with his fiancé Joanna in August 2021 when they participated in our Feast of the Transfiguration Sacred Saunter. During his last visit, Dave had just finished editing a volume titled Merton & Hinduism: The Yoga of the Heart and told me about his crazy new idea of publishing the “lost tapes from the lost coast,” the final talks given by Thomas Merton in the US, which were held at the Redwoods Monastery in Whitethorn. Since August of 2021, I’ve been eagerly anticipating the publication of Merton’s California talks (which came out in January of this year) as well as David’s next visit to Christ Church, as part of his book tour.
Three years after I first learned about the idea for the book and twelve years after “the seeds for the project” were first planted, David Odorisio is now finally coming to Christ Church to bring us the wisdom of Thomas Merton.
On Saturday May 18, David will lead a workshop on Thomas Merton that will include presentations, conversations, Centering Prayer, and lunch! You will not want to miss this amazing opportunity. This book has put Eureka and Humboldt County on the map for tens of thousands of Thomas Merton fans and contemplatives around the world. So, let’s be sure to embrace this opportunity.
In order to help us prepare a sufficient amount of food for lunch, please register by clicking here or by using the QR code below. All are welcome and although a $20 donation is suggested, it is certainly not required.
I look forward to celebrating Pentecost this year with you, David Odorisio, and Thomas Merton! In conclusion, I offer the following prayer composed by Merton himself: “My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end, nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road, though I may know nothing about it. Therefore will I trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.”
[1] I preached a sermon introducing Thomas Merton on Father’s Day weekend in June 2020. My father introduced me to Thomas Merton when I was young, and I learned that Father Doug Thompson was also an admirer of the Trappist monk. You can watch my sermon here: https://deforestlondon.wordpress.com/2020/06/21/thomas-merton-the-psalms-and-the-strong-tide-of-hope/
[2] David M. Odorisio, Thomas Merton in California, 436.
Christ Episcopal Church Eureka 