Merton was zeroing in on spirituality and the idea of renouncing the world. “I am not physically tired, just filled with a deep, vague, undefined sense of spiritual distress, as if I had a deep wound running inside me and it had to be stanched.” He became fixated on the idea of joining the Trappists, a Catholic order of monks who, although they don’t take a strict vow of silence, are generally resigned to a silent and ascetic life.
