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THIS WAS A TOPIC I INTENDED TO IGNORE BUT SO MANY PEOPLE HAVE WRITTEN ME ABOUT IT,HERE GOES.FIRST A PSYCHOLOGY 101 APPROACH. THE AFFAIR OCCURRED WHEN MERTON WAS GOING THROUGH THE CLASSIC "MALE MENOPAUSE" WHICH IS A MISNOMER.MIDDLE-AGED MEN GO THROUGH CHANGES BUT THEY ARE QUITE DIFFERENT THAN THE FEMALE MENOPAUSE.AN INSTINCTUAL EVENT OCCURS.THE MIDAGED MALE IS STILL CAPABLE OF REPRODUCTION WHILE HIS FEMALE COUNTERPART IS LOSING HER ABILITY AND DESIRE,AND OFTEN HER ATTRACTIVE LOOKS AS WELL.(PROBABLY GET SOME IRATE MAIL ON THAT!)SO THE MALE TURNS INSTINCTIVELY TO YOUNGER FEMALES.THEN THERE ARE SOME OF THEM WHO ARE ATTRACTED TO OLDER MALES AND THUS LIFE GOES ON.AN OVERSIMPLIFICATION BUT I WANT TO MERELY SET THE STAGE FOR WHAT TRANSPIRED.ADD A FEW MORE FACTORS.MERTON HAD REACHED THE STAGE WHICH FEW MONKS DO WHERE HE REALIZED THAT CELIBACY WAS AN UNNECESSARY AND EVEN UNDESIRABLE CONCOMMITANT TO LIVING SPIRITUALLY.IF A PERSON IS INCAPABLE OF INTEGRATING THEIR SEXUALITY INTO THEIR SPIRITUALITY,THEN THEY REMAIN PERENNIALLY IMMATURE.(HERE COMES MORE HATE MAIL)NEXT IS THE FACT THAT SEVERE ORTHOPEDIC PROBLEM THROW THE PATIENT OFF-CENTER MENTALLY.WE ARE TALKING ABOUT DAMAGED CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM HERE AND THAT AFFECTS MIND AND BODY.STAGE IS NOW SET,ENTER A YOUNG STUDENT NURSE WHO THEN IS ASSIGNED TO A MONK WHO HAS BEEN VIRTUALLY SEALED OFF FROM THE FAIR SEX FOR MANY YEARS,A MAN WHO LOVED WOMEN,I MIGHT ADD.HOW MUCH TROUBLE THAT FACT GAVE HIM ALL THOSE YEARS WE WILL NEVER KNOW BECAUSE NOT ONLY DID THE ORDER'S CENSORS CUT THAT OUT OF HIS JOURNALS BUT, POSTHUMOUSLY,THE LEGACY TRUST DID A HATCHET JOB ON HIS PRIVATE JOURNALS TOO.WE SHOULD REMEMBER ALSO THAT WHEN TOM ENTERED GETHSEMANI,HE WAS NOT A MATURE MAN YET.TRAPPIST LIFE IN THE 1940'S AND 50'S WAS ANYTHING BUT ENCOURAGING TOWARD MATURATION.RATHER IT INSTILLED A JUVENILE PATERNALISM.I OFTEN HAD THE FEELING WHEN TALKING TO MONKS THAT THEY COULD NOT TAKE THE NEXT BREATH WITHOUT EXPLICIT PERMISSION FROM "REVEREND FATHER." IT WAS ALWAYS THE ABBOT THIS AND THE ABBOT THAT.I OFTEN WANTED TO SCREAM,"GODDAMIT MAN,YOU ARE A GROWN ADULT.CAN'T YOU THINK FOR YOURSELF?SCREW WHAT FATHER ABBOT THINKS,I AM ASKING YOU WHAT YOU THINK!"SO,ALTHOUGH TOM HAD SOME SPIRITUAL MATURATION,BEYOND MANY OF HIS PEERS AND GREAT INTELLECTUAL MATURATION,HE WAS STILL A YOUNG MAN IN HIS SEXUAL DEVELOPMENT.AND THERE SHE STOOD-YUMMY!THE SELF-RIGHTEOUS WOULD SAY THAT HE SHOULD HAVE RESISTED THE TEMPTATION AFTER ALL THOSE YEARS OF "SPIRITUAL TRAINING." WHAT SPIRITUAL TRAINING? A PERVERSE 19TH CENTURY TRAPPIST MANUAL? UNTIL MERTON GREW UP INTELLECTUALLY AND BEGAN TO PUSH FOR TRANSLATIONS OF THE CISTERCIAN FOUNDERS,THEY DID NOT EVEN KNOW WHAT THEIR OWN FOUNDERS TAUGHT!SO LIFE AND HIS OWN EXPERIENCES OF IT HAD SET HIM UP.HE DID NOT PASS THE TEST WITH FLYING COLORS,IT KNOCKED HIM FOR A LOOP FOR A YEAR OR SO,BUT HE GOT OVER IT AND REMAINED A MONK AND A PRIEST.LIL NURSIE WENT HOME TO MOMMA AND POPPA,EVENTUALLY MARRIED AND IS PROBABLY IN OR PASSED MENOPAUSE HERSELF NOW. HER HUSBAND IS PROBABLY CHECKING OUT YOUNGER BABES. AND SO LIFE GOES ON FOLKS.LIKE JOAN RIVERS USED TO SAY,"AAWWW GROW UP!'
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