November 6, 2026
A portion of Thomas Merton’s autobiography, The Seven Storey Mountain, was deleted from the original manuscript before publication. This excerpt was resurrected by Robert Giroux, who reprinted it in his introduction to the 50th-anniversary edition of this celebrated autobiography.
Here is Merton’s passage, which was discarded from the original manuscript but eventually found a home in Giroux’s introduction:
“When a man is conceived, when a human nature comes into being as an individual, concrete, subsisting thing, a life, a person, then God’s image is minted into the world. A free, vital, self-moving entity, a spirit informing flesh, a complex of energies ready to be set into fruitful motion begins to flame with potential light and understanding and virtue, begins to flame with love, without which no spirit can exist. It is ready to realize no one knows what grandeurs. The vital center of this new creation is a free and spiritual principle called a soul. The soul is the life of this being, and the life of the soul is the love that unites it to the principle of all life—God.”
Giroux explained that the deleted passage had been considered by the editors to be “misplaced fine writing.” Today, I believe many of us would consider it much more valuable—something we all search for in the spiritual life: an essential description of the nature of the soul.
For me, Giroux’s decision to include this excerpt in the anniversary edition testifies to the enduring importance of this explanation, which profoundly illuminates the mystery of the human soul.
Consider what Merton is telling us:
When a human being comes into existence, God's image is imprinted upon that being.
The spirit informs the flesh, bringing with it a complex of energies and capacities that are ready to be awakened and expressed.
Love is essential to the very existence of the spirit, and through love, virtue begins to emerge.
This new creation possesses the potential to realize unimaginable grandeur.
At the vital center of this amazing creation is the soul.
The soul is the life of our being, and the life of the soul is love, which unites us with the source of all life—God.
In reflecting upon Merton’s writing, I am struck by his profound understanding of the soul as a living expression of God. We are not merely physical beings with a spiritual dimension. At the very center of our being is a soul whose life is connected to divine love.
And what an extraordinary understanding of our purpose this gives us!
Our purpose is not simply to accomplish certain tasks, fulfill particular roles, or make something of ourselves in the world. Beneath all of these worthy pursuits lies a deeper purpose: to allow the particular Divine image imprinted upon us at our making to become increasingly realized and fully expressed.
I am especially moved by Merton’s suggestion that each new soul is ready to realize “no one knows what grandeurs.” What a magnificent way to describe the unfolding potential of the human soul! We cannot possibly know all that lies within us, waiting to be awakened, developed, and brought into the world.
There is probably no limit to the grandeurs we can realize. Once the soul takes over, we move toward realizing these grander things—no one can predict what they may be. Only the Divine plan, in its unfolding, knows.
Today, as we go about our moments, we can rest assured that we are not only expressions of God but are continually invited to realize the unknown grandeurs that have been within us from the beginning.
Spiritual Practice
What grandeurs have you realized in your life? They need not be great accomplishments in the eyes of the world. They may be qualities of soul that have emerged through your experiences, relationships, suffering, and love. Your answer may become another portion of the written description of your spiritual formation.
Inquiry
What images come to your heart as you read Thomas Merton’s description of the soul? What does his writing awaken in your understanding of your own purpose?
Prayer
Dear God,
Help me to come to some degree of comprehension that I, and all of us, are expressions of You. I need that wisdom, especially when I fall so short of realizing my Divine nature. May this understanding counteract my tendency toward self-abasement, a self-serving activity that neither honors You nor serves Your purposes. Help me to recognize the grandeur You have placed within every soul, including my own, and to allow that grandeur to find expression in my life.
Amen
