Network for Attention and Kin-Making
Inspired by the Life and Wisdom of Thomas Merton
Our Vision
We live in troubled times. The interlocking trends of massive disruption — ecological, political, economic, and other systems — have already been subsumed under the “polycrisis” umbrella term. Such critical times necessitate urgent reexaminations of the foundational assumptions of dominant worldviews. These assumptions have gravely failed us.
We need a different story to frame our understanding of the radically transformed reality; we need a different story to guide us to a livable future for all the complexly interrelated lives, human and more-than-human, on this planet, which is for all creatures to share.
Thomas Merton’s Legacy
Born in a small border town in the French Pyrenees during World War I and passing as an American citizen in Bangkok during the Vietnam War, Thomas Merton not only embodied the contradictions of his times but strove to understand and reconcile them. As a spiritual master and nonviolent activist prophetically attuned to global trends and developments, Merton struggled for a more just, more inclusive world.
His vision speaks powerfully to our present moment:
“When we are alone on a starlit night; when by chance we see the migrating birds in autumn descending on a grove of junipers to rest and eat, when we see children in a moment when they are really children… at such times the awakening, the turning inside out of all values, the ‘newness,’ the emptiness and the purity of vision that make themselves evident, provide a glimpse of the cosmic dance.”
Thomas Merton, New Seeds of Contemplation, 296-297.
Our Commitment
- Initiate and maintain dialogue between thinkers, contemplatives, activists, and all interested persons
- Address the urgent challenges of our fragmented world
- Bridge contemplative wisdom with contemporary action
- Foster ecological consciousness and interfaith understanding
- Create spaces for transformative education
- Build relationships across traditional boundaries
Renouncing biological fatherhood as part of his monastic vocation, Merton felt related to all of humanity across cultural, religious, racial, and many other divides, gradually extending the network of relationality to nonhumans and more-than-humans: animals, land, the whole of the ecological community. He worked tirelessly to make kin — even oddkin — and he made making kin attractive.
- Expanding our understanding of relationship and community
- Embracing the complex web of life
- Building bridges across different traditions and worldviews
- Creating spaces for meaningful dialogue
- Fostering ecological awareness
- Supporting contemplative practice
We welcome friends, scholars, colleagues, readers, and activists engaging with:
- Climate change and ecological crisis
- Peace and conflict studies
- Art, literature and religious wisdom
- Contemporary contemplative life
- Various forms of mysticism
- Technological development challenges
- Interfaith dialogue
- Educational transformation
“We believe that our future will be made by hope and love, not by violence or calculation. The Spirit of Life that has brought us together, whether in space or only in agreement, will make our encounter an epiphany of certainties we could not know in isolation.”
Thomas Merton, Raids on the Unspeakable, 156.
Like Merton, we are:
- Aware of the worst, yet refusing to give up hope
- Determined to “stay with the trouble”
- Committed to making kin across boundaries
- Engaged in practical action for change
- Grounded in contemplative wisdom
- Open to new understandings and relationships
Join Us
Whether you are a:
- Scholar or student
- Activist or contemplative
- Practitioner or seeker
- Someone concerned about our shared future