Dear God in Heaven

The nothing is on the pilgrimage, this type of private retreat. The body, stretched to or beyond limits, continues as a dead person walking. However, pilgrimages are not meant to be easy or comfortable. They stretch the body as the external sign of the soul being stretched like new wine in new wineskin.

Where be the nothing? Is that important to share? Perhaps in photo-clues--if the nothing could figure out how to manage the technology of digital camera and laptop, the latter having struggles with connections in this change of place in the world.

Fr. S. has been a marvelous host! Yesterday time was spent with his visiting provincial superior. Churches, abbeys, Cathedral, basilica, parish, contacts with whoever God brings day by day. A friend flew in from yet another place to go over yet another leg of this pilgrimage, helping in such generosity with questions the nothing posed--and guided the nothing with other considerations and possibilities.

Yet, the nothing will get to the next spot so generously offered as a place to stay, and have total solitude beyond anything previous, yet will be among others in a communication warp. Then back to this spot after a couple of weeks, not knowing what will transpire in that time.

Already so much to add in prayers. The Church! The Church! Seeds must be planted, and one physically struggling must rely on non-physical means for the most part. Prayer, suffering, joy, presence, love--love of Holy Mother Church; love of the Most Blessed Trinity; love for others to love God and His Church.

Spiritual sons to be prayed for--pray that the bar is raised, that expectations be set a bit to the heights in increments, and belief and faith that souls will reach for these next levels. Otherwise, people--their souls especially--relax like limp rubber bands. No song can be plucked on a lax-stringed violin; the bow has no toning tension across such weakness.

So it is with our souls. And, if the sons do not set the strings to the tenor of tightness, then the souls must do for in themselves. Souls must not be allowed to flap and flag. Use it, or lose it.

The nothing finds itself praying for everyone and anyone and even no one who may read the blogs.

The friend who flew in is not Catholic and does not go in for worship services. He had an interesting perspective of a hermit and writing--that it is still an exposure and is a contradiction to the vocation. Even though anonymously written, he pointed out, it exposes the interior to the very world and thus is no longer private, not hidden. The writer is easily buffed into writing as if for others. Yes, this is so! It was pointed out that the nothing's guides in the Church would not view the hermit life as a hermit might, as they are called to interface with the world and then with the Church. They would want the nothing to write--but that would be at the expense of the hermit's hiddenness in a pure sense.

Again, the nothing asked the host here, a missionary priest from afar, and he disagreed. He felt if there was any good for others, then writing and sharing took precedence as a charity. Yes, that is sacrifice. Often we sacrifice what might to ourselves seem a pure ladder to the heights, to wait behind some and offer less than purist eremitical ideals for self. But who knows? These matters must be offered in prayer for the Good Lord to determine. If He wills no writing that reveals the interior of a nothing Catholic hermit, then sooner or later a spiritual guide will see and say that blog writing is not hidden--or, as it is not hidden in actuality--will say that the nothing must not write even anonymously to others but expositorily of self.

So, we may try to figure out how to share photos which expose the views of externals on this pilgrimage, and of beauty for whoever might see the Faith in visual form.

Later, the nothing may share more. The body enough pained and the change in physical context enough of a shock, that endurance and survival are the mode for the body; and soul stretching encounters the norm for the interior.

The nothing prays somethings and manythings for each of you and all, and for the Church and those who hold the bars to be raised, if only and hopefully raised inch by mile.