Faced with anxieties we have not experienced since the Cold War, perhaps it is time to return to Thomas Merton’s writings on nuclear weapons and the Christian responsibility to advocate for peace in a nuclear age.

Patrick Collins gives a close read of Thomas Merton’s correspondence in “A Focus on Truth: Thomas Merton's Uncensored Mind.”

The people of Nazareth thought that they were putting a local upstart in his place. The sad irony is that they were rejecting God.

Thich Nhat Hanh, who died on Jan. 21, had a profound influence on Thomas Merton, who said, “I have far more in common with Nhat Hanh than I have with many Americans, and I do not hesitate to say it.”

The essential Merton is all of these books taken together. Read them all, and in this order, if you can.

The death of cultural icon Lawrence Ferlinghetti on Monday reminds us of the many artists and writers he influenced and was influenced by—including Thomas Merton.