Plodding

Sometimes in the hike, one begins to plod. Plodding is all right; progress continues but not with the light-step or energized effulgence.

The nothing plods along, pain draining the reserve a bit. That is all right, also. God allows what He wills for the body and soul. We do our best to keep going, eat healthy foods, pray, fast, stay close to the Sacraments.

In the current situation, even if Mass were part of the daily lives of the hosts where nothing is a guest, the nothing could not physically at this point manage it without being driven. But today, the nothing Catholic hermit will pray and hope and strive for that extra burst of effort to move beyond plodding, for Mass on this Feast of Corpus Christi is a must if at all feasible physically.

The nothing considers, also, the expenditure on the Mary Garden. It discussed it with the confessor last week, and the confessor said if the trees and flowers bring the nothing closer to God, better able to pray and meditate, then it is all right. But, the nothing realizes from a practical standpoint of investment, as the world views (and practicality is not bad!), there will never be a recovery financially in what has been spent. The trees could have been common trees; instead, they are specimen trees, scarce, unusual, and many--creating a kind of grotto back garden in a typical subdivision lot. Well, the pond--Lake Immaculata--does make the lot not as typical. And the train beyond that, with woods, creates yet another barrier limit to other houses being built.

When the nothing considers what good the money could have done in Africa, for example, there is a kind of shame. Yet there is also a good being done in the Mary Garden, for even the utility people find it an unexpected glimpse of beauty, and the train engineers sometimes honk their appreciation--an oasis in their freight train days.

Well, we plod through this. The nothing resolves to donate henceforth, to the degree of plant expenditure, to the poor anywhere and everywhere. It has done this in the past, and the Mary Garden has been an exception of rather frivolous expense, although the humble nursery man and his employees are quite grateful. And the man who plants them is grateful, in this time of weak economy. And, the nothing hopes and prays that the Blessed Mother and the Most Holy Trinity are pleased with this attempt at adoration through offering back the beauty of God's own creation.

When the nothing returns to Agnus Dei, it will hope to have that appointment with the Bishop. He has been quite inundated with confirmations and graduations, baccalaureates, in addition to his extremely busy schedule. There are some points to be discussed, and yet another is the nothing's writing--and what direction he sees the writing going, what he might suggest in other avenues for the love of God, for the Church, for the nothing hermit's own progression.

Internet writing does pose its own trials. The nothing has recently been made aware that it's blog writing has been mis-quoted without giving actual quotes, but misinterpreted, mis-restated, and then expounded upon in negation. It is, at best, very poor journalism as well as petty. This is something the nothing wishes to discuss with the Bishop, for internet writers cannot be always authenticated for veracity. Anyone can present themselves as experts in any given field and surround with enthusiastic supporters.

The nothing does not want to be party to anyone considering it anything but nothing. Yet, it is something to ponder, that others would feel the need to expound on something not accurately quoted. It happens, though. Also, in considering male and female hermits, it is mostly if not always the women who tend to desire to be authenticated, to expound, to have vocational recognition. Is this due to the feminist movement in society, or has it always been a tendency of the female gender?

If the nothing were yet in the world of research, it could make a rather interesting study of women and men's traits, over a period of time, in religious vocations. But the nothing is interested in living the hermit life as purely as possible, disentangled from any pitfalls, and the world of the internet can be precarious due to its ease of widespread publication. The nothing must always be on guard against pride and self-promotion, of deceiving itself or being deceived.

No one knows the nothing (thanks be to God!), and thus it is rather eerie having others read and appreciate or read and discredit, what is written. Either way, it does not lend itself to being hidden, does it? Purely hidden, that is--as opposed to simply anonymous. Yet writing serves a function and can be, depending upon the motives and intentions, an act of inactive charity.

That has always been the question the spiritual da and confessor have asked: Does the blog help even one person? Yet if it is a detriment to even one, that seems a consideration. But the Bishop will have another view, and this will be appreciated.

In the meantime, the nothing Catholic hermit plods onward, hopefully upward, and will continue some planting in the Mary Garden at Agnus Dei. It will edit and save and give alms, will ponder the moment by moment hermit life, will pray through challenges, delights, and climb for virtues, especially charity.

In a stable pattern, the nothing consults the confessor, the spiritual da, and also the Bishop on these matters. God will determine what is best through them.

But, someone has suggested the nothing write a book on the Nine S', as they could be of benefit to non-hermits as well.