Thomas Merton on Prayer

I approached this audiobook expecting a lecture; I left with a spiritual journal. Merton’s voice is the audio equivalent of a worn leather chair in a quiet library—you immediately trust him, even when he’s wrestling with paradoxes like ‘prayer is both a gift and a discipline’ or ‘silence is the loudest voice of God.’ Anthony J. Ciorra’s interjections act as modern signposts, preventing the listener from getting lost in Merton’s labyrinthine metaphors. The production is clean, with no distracting audio tricks—just two voices, a microphone, and the unfiltered sound of a man thinking aloud. My only gripe? The pacing occasionally stalls in the middle third, where Merton repeats themes with diminishing returns. But the payoff is worth it: by the final hour, you’ll understand why Merton’s words still haunt the inner lives of presidents, poets, and prisoners alike. The narration isn’t just a medium; it’s an invitation to pray.