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Document Details : Title: Merton: Stranger or at Home? Subtitle: Alternations and a Vision Author(s): PLEKON, Michael Journal: Studies in Spirituality Volume: 32 Date: 2022-2023 Pages: 423-437 DOI: 10.2143/SIS.32.0.3292468 Abstract : The concept of ‘alternation’, developed by Peter L. Berger from the work of Alfred Schütz and others is used to interpret the many shifts and changes in the life of Thomas Merton. ‘Alternation’ means transformation in one’s vision and understanding, of God, the world, others and especially of oneself and one’s purpose in life. Merton himself seems to document such alternations at several crucial points in his life and these are examined to see what the changes entailed and why they occurred. Alternation is as much a spiritual transformation as it is psychological and social. However, alternation means changes all through one’s thinking and existence. Merton’s alternations, as those is other spiritual writers, offer us possibilities in our own pilgrimages. |
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