Thomas Keating (FILM REVIEW)
Thomas Keating: A Rising Tide of Silence
Film Review
by Kam Williams
Poignant Portrait Pays Tribute to Modest Trappist Monk
Father Thomas Keating is a very
influential theologian despite the fact that his is not as much of a household
name as some of his contemporaries like the Dalai Lama and Deepak Chopra. That’s
because the 91 year-old cleric got a late start after having spent the bulk of
his life under the radar as a Trappist Monk withdrawn from the world and
operating under a vow of silence.
How exactly did he land on that Spartan
path? Well, as a sickly 5 year-old, Thomas had promised God to enter the
priesthood if he were allowed to survive a life-threatening childhood disease.
So, upon completing his studies at Yale
University, he kept his word by joining
an ascetic order located in rural Rhode
Island.
However, he would resign in 1981 and
start talking again in order to be able to share his unique brand of
Eastern-influenced Catholicism with the masses. He subsequently moved to an
abbey in Colorado
where he founded the Contemplative Outreach program.
Over the intervening years he also
wrote 30+ books about his meditative approach to spirituality. His Earth-friendly
philosophy basically suggests that “The more we know about nature, the more we
know about God.” In that regard, it reminded this critic of a passage from Shakespeare’s
As You Like It which reads “And this our life, exempt from public haunt, finds
tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, sermons in stones, and good in
everything.”
Co-directed by Peter Jones and Elena
Mannes, Thomas Keating: A Rising Tide of Silence is an endearing
biopic whose
only flaw is a slight tendency at times towards hero worship. For, although the
endearing documentary’s humble subject obviously has little interest in such
glorification, the filmmakers can’t help but gush, cinematically, in the
process of placing him atop a virtual pedestal he probably wants no part of.
The picture is at its best during relatively-introspective
interviews conducted with Thomas which intermittently arrive between glowing
accolades from colleagues and distracting reminders that, as an Ivy League grad,
he could’ve written his own ticket had he gone the conventional materialistic
route.
But it was apparently hard for the directors
to leave well enough alone and just let Thomas speak for himself. A poignant
portrait of a transcendent figure for the ages with a simple message that ”Forgiveness
is at the very center of Christianity.”
Excellent
(3.5 stars)
Unrated
Running time: 75 minutes
Distributor: Temple Rock
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