Merton and Me: A Living Trinity

Presented by Douglas Hertler a.k.a. Doug Lory

Saturday, September 22, 2018
1:00-4:00 p.m.

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Merton & Me – A Living Trinity, is an act of storytelling which explores the dynamics of the false self as seen through the eyes of an actor whose very vocation called him to become someone other than himself.  Written and performed by Douglas Hertler (known professionally as Doug Lory), it depicts his unexpected and life-changing encounter with the writings of Thomas Merton, most notably Merton’s classic No Man Is An Island.  While the conflicting personalities of Douglas Hertler and Doug Lory seek to learn the true nature of their identities, Thomas Merton appears and reappears, creating a synergy of spirit and psyche that serves as a mirror into the soul.

Doug holds a BA in Speech/Communication/Theater from Monmouth University.  He is a professional actor and licensed NYC tour guide, as well as an actor/educator at Fordham University School of Law.  Doug is a member of the International Thomas Merton Society (ITMS), the ITMS NYC Chapter, and the American Teilhard de Chardin Association (ATA).

In the words of Douglas Hertler, 

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I would have to guess that for most people their first encounter with Thomas Merton is rarely their last encounter with Thomas Merton.  Once he takes an interest in you he seems rather unwilling to let go.  And if and when you try to escape, it seems that he will only follow you anyway with a rather dogged determination.  He has been following me since 2002, or perhaps I am now following him… His book No Man Is an Island found its way onto the… island where I was living 16 years ago, and is now the spiritual lens through which I am looking back on my life, and sharing what I hope will be an honest and engaging story with whomever wishes to share the journey with me.
 
I would like to emphasize that I will be telling a story, in this case a real story, for I am becoming increasingly convinced that live storytelling is just as important to the adult human experience as it has always been to the heart and mind of a little child.  The deep and pervasive restlessness that permeates our inter-connected and inter-dependent world, spiritually, culturally, and economically, speaks to the desperate need for both interior transformation in the search for meaning, as well as its integration and manifestation into a larger mythical narrative that embraces the entire human family.  Any lasting structural changes in the world must be rooted in this foundation.  This profound challenge of self-identification and self- expression, which first confronts us in our childhood on a less conscious level, clearly does not end in adulthood as we might prefer to believe, but rather expands in harmony with our naturally evolving universe.  It is a dynamic, on-going process which demands focused and mature attention, and a willingness to open our hearts and minds as a sacrificial offering to the world.  This most intimate of invitations to such an unfamiliar outward expression of vulnerability is at the same time an invitation to love more fully, and it is ignored not only to the detriment of our own personal fulfillment, but to the future health of our planet and species.    
 
Thomas Merton writes, “What every man looks for in life is his own salvation and the salvation of the men he lives with.  By salvation I mean first of all the full discovery of who he himself really is.  Then I mean something of the fulfillment of his own God-given powers, in the love of others and of God.  I mean also the discovery that he cannot find himself in himself alone, but that he must find himself in and through others.”
 
What better way to find oneself in and through others than to sit down in community with them, and listen to a story.  “For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.”


Interested in becoming a member? Thomas Merton NYC members are able to attend events as part of their membership. Learn more about membership.