Dorothy Day, Thomas Merton and the Greatest Commandment: Radical Love in Times of Crisis by Julie Leininger Pycior (review)

In the prologue the author shares a story of what led up to twenty years of research and the publication of this book. During this time, three significant insights became apparent from her inquiry into the lives, work, and relationship of Dorothy Day and Thomas Merton. The Social activist and the contemplative monk bore witness to a radical love rooted in God, the necessity for reordering of society, and the acceptance of human fallibility that requires mercy and grace. These three insights are woven together into what Rowan Williams in his foreword to the book describes as a “compelling” narrative that is capable of influencing others who seek to understand and live the Christian way of life at the deepest possible level.

Pycior’s academic expertise as an historian, her religious background as a lifelong and engaged Roman Catholic, and her earlier publications that address contemporary social issues contributed each in their own way to this superbly researched and beautifully narrated account of two lives that on the surface appear so different—one living in the inner city and the other in a hermitage—and yet at a deeper level are opposite sides of the same coin that bears the image of Christ. Pycior’s deep appreciation for Day and Merton does not interfere with her critical examination and honest assessment of their personal lives but rather adds a depth of insight and understanding that enhances the narrative. Midway through the book the reader will discover nine photos and two drawings of these two American icons. These images of Day and Merton are set side by side in a way that reveals the way the sacred is able to dwell in ordinary persons who have committed their lives in service to God and humanity.

This historic friendship was a convergence of the Benedictine discipline of ora et labora. Consequently, it is also a spiritual friendship emerging from what Merton called the Hidden Ground of Love. Both Day and Merton struggled with the meaning and trajectories of their religious vocations. We observe how they confided in one another. They requested and offered prayers for one another. They agreed, disagreed, and agreed to disagree with one another on the major social issues of the day, i.e., nuclear war, racism, poverty, labor, and the peace movement. Even though the book draws our attention time and again to the dark days through which these two persons struggled, Pycior digs beneath the troubling times to reveal a friendship that was honest with regard to criticism but always caring, supportive, and generous. They refused to despair despite their own faults and thereby gave enduring witness to facing grave crises with faith, hope, and, above all, love.

While I value the book for its excellent scholarship and fine writing, I end this review with a note of gratitude to Pycior for providing a way of life during these difficult times. Day and Merton embodied in their separate vocations and in their relationship the creative possibilities that surface when prayer and work are integrated. In this way they reveal a way of life for us that is both needed and possible today. As we read about their lives in the last century, we recognize that we face the same issues today. So it is not just a book about the relation between Day and Merton. As their lives earlier influenced the Berrigan brothers, Eileen Egan, Jim Forest, Richard Rohr, and John Dear, there is also the possibility of this becoming true for us. So we might consider this book to be about our relation with them if we choose to face the unprecedented crises of our days with a courage rooted in faith, hope, and love.