Catholic Hermit: Law of Gospel the Perfection of Divine Law

Have been considering yet again, the most perfect rule of life, the Gospel Rule, the greatest of laws being the Gospel law, and God's law being the Law of Love, or charity.

I've noticed that The Catechism of the Catholic Church expresses these points concisely--of which I surely would not do as my thoughts and writings tend to meander through fields of feelings and thoughts, usually tinted and augmented by physical pain and extraneous examples from daily life.

This nothing consecrated Catholic hermit had yesterday a huge challenge to the great Peace of Christ that has dwelt within my mind, heart, and spirit since Lent.  The devil was at work as is as always, but the physical pain siege wears down the resistance, and the evil one knows and swoops in.  There was a nightmare of my last living aunt who has regressed into increasing pride and caustic comments.  

Upon waking I realized it was but a nightmare with pokes and prods from the devil.  My response was to pray yet again the Lord's Prayer for this aunt, as her only living child, nearly 70 years of age and I have agreed to pray the Our Father each day for as long as the aunt lives.  I'm sure it is doing us much good, this prayer that Jesus taught us mortals to pray.

Yet there were other nasty pokes of recent memory and beyond. I realized it is unlikely I can finish this property and sell yet this summer.  The work load seems endless--and that load seems all the heavier with increased bodily pain.  There is pressure from an adult family member who floated a small loan to keep me working to finish and sell--ASAP, as I was reminded a week ago.

But the yard and gardens are past due for work efforts, and yesterday after doing a load of laundry and hanging on the line, I began what I'd been putting off due to interior work efforts.  The vegetable garden area, 30x90 feet, had weeds and oat grass high and thick.  Some parsley root had taken over a section of blueberry bushes to the extent that the bushes were not even visible.  Blue Scotch kale had grown to over 7 feet tall, and nearly 3-foot tall oat grass is thick around the apple trees.

Each season there have been different weeds that seem to take over.  None of them have been easy to rid out.  Yet, I noticed that all the hard work effort of last summer has offered a gift of being able to extricate the weeds much easier than had I not done the time-and-cost consuming effort.  I'd put down cardboard in all areas of the garden other than corn planting space, then had put down mulch that I'd brought in on the used pick up, "Precious Blood."

Preparation is helpful.  I wish I'd realized a couple years ago that the garret attic gable room would develop into a charming little space.  Had I then, I'd have shimmed the floor joists up there so that the finished floor would be level.  It is not, and the only way I got subflooring up there was by heaving up  through the gutted bathroom ceiling beneath, some 3/8" OSB board, two layers of it.  Now to try to level the floor up there is going to be daunting.

The forces of darkness worked on these various thoughts, in addition to needing to cease interior work because the yard and gardens are so out of orderly control. I should have been working in them a month ago.  Yet, as I began weeding, the frustrations and temptation to upset soon gave way to the peace that the Holy Spirit is given us to fulfill within our souls and to positively influence our temporal existences.

I considered God's law, the supreme and perfect law, the Law of Love.  I thought about my granddaughter's grandmother--one of three they have--and the rarity in which I have contact with the girls.  But the other day, a granddaughter made contact on her own, and we did what is known as FaceTime on our computers.  We could see and converse with one another, long distance.  One of her grandmother's lives with them, and I find this wonderful, as I've been told in the past that the son-in-law is all right with his parent but not with my daughter's parent....

Yet somehow the grandmother living there got the iPad and began conversing, and rather rubbed it in thickly how good it is that she is able to be there every single day and how much fun are the granddaughters, and how close they are, and so forth.  It was laid on a bit much with some insinuation included, for it is known there that the adult daughter has chosen estrangement with me.

So thoughts of this situation, also, the devil taunted while I was weeding, my back and feet throbbing with pain and me fighting thoughts of how it seems my life here is not going to change other than if I drop dead while working.  And then I realized that it does not matter, and that it is a marvelous thing indeed that I happen to absolutely love weeding!  

I also realized that I've never once resented the grandmother having the delight of being with the granddaughters; it is a blessing God has given me all my life, that I have never been prone to envy.  (I have plenty of other vices and flaws, to be sure, but at least not that one, and the fact of it amazes me--yes, 'tis a grace from God, that!)  

So all is well, and there is nothing much I can do about changing matters, anyway.  I am here and must keep working and praying, and so my prayers turned to this person who in tone and content had gloried a bit in her situation and favor with her son and my daughter, and that I am rather the outcast, the outsider, the loser.

Yet, of course, none of us in the Lord Jesus are lost whatsoever.  The Good Shepherd looks after us and keeps us close!  We have the Law of the Gospel given us by God, exemplified in teaching and His Life by Christ, and the Holy Spirit brings the law of love to our minds, hearts, and souls.  As is stated so well, through the Holy Spirit the law of the Gospel becomes the interior (within us!) law of charity.

With gratitude, I had but thankfulness that the grandmother had such a marvelous situation in which she can live in a beautiful home with no work other than to take two darling girls to some after school activities and be with them for whatever other enjoyments in their growing up years.  And in all honesty, my own pain issues would more preclude me from consistent usefulness.  Even when I visited last for a few days, the added activity, driving, sitting and conversation brought on a pain siege while there.

Well, we see how this hermit's mind meanders through perhaps, rather than fields of feelings more the streams of consciousness.  But within, it all seems to relate with how the Holy Spirit yesterday brought me out of the devil's attempts to dampen the gift of Christ's peace.  His peace all returned, and there was a glorifying of God in the delight and love of others, and a thankfulness to be reminded that my aunt is in dire need of prayer for while I may die before her, her shelf life on earth is on a narrow trajectory at nearly 94 years of age.

And yes, I might not be able to finish here this summer, and the one who has lent the money might not be happy with that reality, but I was reminded that I am but one human being (and an old and pained one, at that) doing the work here of which inside or outside, either one, is a lot of hard work.  It is miraculously so, abundant graces of God, that I am able to do much at all! 

Then, as the Holy Spirit continued weeding the humanly vexing thoughts and feelings from my mind and emotions, there came the ineffable reality that there is not just one doing the work, but that His Real Presence is with me always, doing the heavy portion as He always does in our lives.  He takes the yoke upon Himself, and we are lifted up and carried along like a dandelion fluff in the breeze.

That the divine law, the Law of Love is the work of Christ and is expressed particularly in the Sermon on the Mount will next carry me to a review of this section of Scripture.  I so want the Law of Love, the Gospel Law, to be perfected in my inner and outer being.  It is the touch of grace to be infused with charity for others, and to delight in their successes and also to be grateful, always, no matter what our own temporal circumstances.  

There was true peace returned yesterday when I considered how marvelous all is at our judgment--and beyond--as then all misconceptions and miscommunications and misunderstandings will be laid out for all of us to listen and be shown.  All that seems murky on earth between loved ones and even strangers who have encountered one another on earth, will be made clear.  What a relief and how charitable of God to straighten out, once and for all, our earthly relationships!

Well, finally, here is the excerpt from The Catechism of the Catholic Church that has me pondering the glories of the Gospel Law, and the Gospel as the perfection here on earth of the divine law, the Law of Love.  And I consider the Holy Spirit working infinitely to bring the Law of Love into our daily lives, into our most interior, innermost place of remaining in Christ.  Within, and from within to without, we may breathe and live and exude charity.

"1965  The New Law or the Law of the Gospel is the perfection here on earth of the divine law, natural and revealed.  It is the work of Christ and is expressed particularly in the Sermon on the Mount.  It is also the work of the Holy Spirit and through him it becomes the interior law of charity.  'I will establish a New Covenant with the house of Israel....I will put my laws into their hands, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.'"

Catholic Hermit Exclaims: Lord, Have Mercy!

These words have been in my thoughts and at times uttered aloud.  Lord, have mercy!  

I do not intend the words or meaning to be a supplication of needs to be met, for the Lord has been meeting my temporal needs in marvelous ways.  I am so very grateful, and another exclamation I've been making lately is:  God provides!  Praise the Lord!

My helper, Daniel the Nazarene, came two days this past week.  As I write now, he is on his way driving to second semester of Bible college--a 16-hour drive.  I'm praying his vehicle hold up; he is concerned, and this young man's concerns are now my concerns.

The Lord, have mercy! exclamation is one of surprise and gratitude while at the same time marveling at how far this nothing consecrated Catholic hermit's body has been pushed in the manual labor this past three weeks or so since Daniel has been able to come help me with renovation and construction efforts.  He has come one day a week other than this past with two days (and maybe the week after Christmas two days).  

So in about six days' time of 6-7 hours including lunch and snack breaks, my helper and I were able to get tongue-in-groove ceilings installed upstairs and down the slanted ceiling wall in two bedrooms.  We put ceiling boards in a 24x14' living room, installed drywall up high in a stairwell, framed a stairwell wall, framed a pocket door, installed drywall on that wall and finished framing a closet door opening.  We finished hanging drywall in a couple high-up places downstairs, and we got the washer and dryer moved back into the laundry area (on other-and-underside of stairwell).

We've carried up the ladder several sheets of drywall, with Daniel taking the brunt of the lifting, thankfully so.  We nailed in 8 sheets of plywood beadboard into the attic gable "garret room".  We've had to empty out that attic space of boxes and bags of belongings stored these nearly four years so that we had space to work.

On days Daniel was not here--the bulk of days--this painful-bodied hermit hustled and pushed beyond what is truly feasible, or so it surely seems to me.  God provides!  Praise the Lord!  Others have mentioned they could never do it.  I respond, "Yes, you could and would if your existence depended upon it.   God would see you through, as He is seeing me through, at least to this very present moment."  

We never know the day or the hour.  But I am quite hopeful that I will be able to finish the hermitage in a few months, for the finances will totally be dried up and finished in a few months.  The generous assistance by Daniel the Nazarene and his willingness to drive from civilization to help an old hermit who paid an hourly wage that he appreciated and can use for college but also was not an unreasonable pay, has made all the difference.

No drugs, no foul language, a godly young man, responsible, on time, tolerant of working with an old person who is quite capable of making errors in figuring how to do carpentry work and forgetful when pain is high--God provided quite a gift in Daniel the Nazarene.

Each Sunday morning as the couple from the parish so kindly brings Communion to this hermit, they remark on the progress in this hermitage--an old farmhouse that probably could have been a tear-down to some prospective buyers who might have had a more honest and realistic realtor than had I.  The couple is seeing what a little bit of help--paid help--can do, what a little bit of charity can provide in results.  And the work is good work, for this dwelling will never be for others as it was for me.  Others will never have to undergo the hardships of living in rugged, rotten, rat-ridden, cold and nasty circumstances.

Now, that is good and holy!  And Daniel the Nazarene and next, a couple of his friends who are willing to come a day a month to help continue what help I need that I cannot do with God alone--these young people are stepping up in charity and kindness; and I am paying them more than they'd make and are so very grateful for their pay.  Loving kindness is a win-win.  When and if I live the next few months and God provides energy and strength to continue my God-alone work efforts in here, I hope to sell and gift these young people all the more with monetary assistance that I cannot give them right now.

It hopefully will all be a witness to the Catholic parishioners who could not so much as take five minutes to lift a microwave up on its metal holding strip, or those who could not let their son come for 10-15 minutes to help me lift up six sheets of drywall--with payment to them, of course.  It hopefully will be a witness to the Catholic parishioners who a priest said there were no men who could help me the first summer carry in six sheets of 1/2" plywood.  

Hopefully it can be a witness to the Catholic realtor and the parish St. Vincent de Paul Society who the realtor mentioned could help me that first cold winter when the roof was leaking like a sieve and I had no one to help with the most minor of tasks but requiring another set of hands now and then.  That Catholic realtor will not be selling the house, but she will surely be aware when another has the listing and will see that God provided through other Christians, such as Daniel the Nazarene and his friends, the little bit of help that made it feasible for this old and pained hermit to be able to progress toward completion.

Lord, have mercy!  As I read more of St. Bernard of Clairvaux's Sermons on the Song of Songs, in the introduction we are reminded of the ultimate goal and need to be united in God's love--to love God in Himself and to realize deeply that He loves us and it is His love by which we are able to love Him.  And, the saint reminds that once we love God in Himself and have union in His love, it is then that we are able to truly love others.  It is then that we are called to drop our love embrace in contemplation and to be charitable to the temporal needs of others.  

I hope to write more about what St. Bernard explains of God and His Love.  But for now, before more storms roll through, I must drop my desire to write of what Bernard shares and get the very pained and sore body off the mattress, dressed, and utilizing the compound miter saw set up outside on the deck.  I have more ceiling areas (shorter boards so can nail with God's help) to cut and install and some 2x4's to nail in here and there in various parts of the stairwell and attic garret so that there will be adequate surfaces to which to hang drywall.

God bless His Real Presence in us!  Lord, have mercy!  God provides!  Praise the Lord!

Catholic Hermit: Campaign Slogan

Well, I've come up with a campaign slogan (for the be-nice election hopeful win).  Make Me Nice Again--Nicer Than Ever Before!

My cousin from afar has joined in as she wants to be nice again, too.

We were discussing the elderly aunt's decision to never talk to me again due to the last time my voice not sounding "good."  (I actually was quite good compared to how I'd been an hour prior as was in terrible pain but had medication that helped so was quite chipper in comparison.)  But the real reason, I was told by my cousin is that my aunt does not like to hear about my dwelling problems.

Funny, I had not mentioned anything, having figured out she could not cope with nor grasp how so much could go wrong in one place.  I had previously explained the devil does pound on me, but her understanding of spiritual warfare is that you simply tell the devil to go away one time, and that is that.  

Not so, of course.  The more we pray and strive after Christ, the more the devil tries to suck us down.  Jesus was in battle the night before His crucifixion and again on the Cross when He felt so abandoned at one point.

Regardless, my cousin and I gave benefit of the doubt that the aunt is tired, elderly, and, I submitted, perhaps has gotten "peevish" with age.  My cousin said she'd not heard that word in a long time, and I said it has been on my mind recently, for I feel I am peevish, as well.

For fun (I love words and meanings!), I looked up "peevish" on Google, and here are the results.  I note the root word meanings; so apt for how I currently feel, as well as all the descriptors and synonyms in the definition.  Sent it on to my cousin who emailed back that she did not realize the word meant quite this, but realized it was not just applicable for the very elderly...but that it described her, as well, and then added that she realizes she is "old", too.

Yes, and so is this nothing consecrated Catholic hermit mystic or mystic hermit, not that labels matter.  I just include them as a reminder of reality and identity of sorts, while on this temporal earth.  Labels help size up our situations and make us face facts--as well as responsibilities and realities.  So I sent back the message to my cousin that I join her in being peevish.

We concluded our brief internet exchange by her saying she'd like to join my campaign.  She wants to be made nice again, too.  

Making ourselves nice again is a prayer, of sorts.  We solicit God for help to meet our need and desire to be nice, as we confess we have grown not-so-nice over time.  I remind that the main foot-work in this campaign must be done by ourselves.  Attitude, effort. humility always, desire to succeed in being nice--these are keys to winning the be-nice election.

May we be elected to niceness--even nicer than ever before!

While it seems simplistic, the effort is genuine and forthright.  There are many details to which to attend; prayer and practice, re-do and then try again and again, honest reflection--we must persevere and in faith know that we can leave off the peevishness and truly be nice again.  Charity is crucial; charity is also very nice virtue to live out in daily life, in thoughts, words, emotions, and deeds.

Dear God in Heaven, Jesus Christ, Holy Spirit:  Please help make us nice again--nicer than ever before!  Fling peevishness far from us, and in this effort we also will try our best.  But please grant us the graces to simply and profoundly be nice!  Yes, make us nice again.  Amen.

peev·ish

ˈpēviSH/

adjective

adjective: peevish

1. easily irritated, especially by unimportant things.

   "all this makes Steve fretful and peevish"

   synonyms:

   irritable, fractious, fretful, cross, petulant, querulous, pettish, crabby, crotchety, cantankerous, curmudgeonly, sullen, grumpy, bad-tempered, short-tempered, touchy, testy, tetchy, snappish, irascible, waspish, prickly, crusty, dyspeptic, splenetic, choleric;More

   antonyms:

   good-humored

Origin

late Middle English (in the sense ‘foolish, insane, spiteful’): of unknown origin.

Mystic Hermit: Apostle Paul on Charity

The selection from number 1825 in The Catechism of the Catholic Church elicits the apostle Paul's thoughts on charity.

I awoke this morning very much pondering the Lord Jesus Christ and His desire not only for my life on earth but for whatever He wills of me in my legacy for others...right now, today.  I plan to address a few Christmas cards and include what notes I can.  Particularly I desire to thank those persons who have exhibited selfless love to me and others of which I have observed over the years.  

I will make a couple of phone calls today.  One is to inquire of an elderly woman who three weeks ago called and asked for prayers for her son-in-law--a cancer survivor of five years but who currently is having health problems.  He had agreed to undergo tests at a major city medical facility; I can appreciate why he did not want to begin the process despite his family so wanting him to undergo more of a painful path he's traversed in the past.

Another call is to a young woman who has been contacting me recently, but I was not in a mode of strength to be able to take the call.  I emailed her and explained and that I would call her when more able--after some other hurdles were behind me.  She understood, for she has been through many trials in her not-quite 30 years.  Since we had not spoken in a long time, it seemed best to not share the challenges, including high pain levels and medical professional obstacles.  I want to be "nice" without pain intruding into my tone, for the young woman deserves my loving attention to her life struggles.

My desire is to express to others the ways in which they are loving and that I appreciate how loving they have been to me over the years even if we have not seen one another for some time nor kept in touch. Being capable of loving others and of receiving love with the ability to love in return, is not bound by time or place.  

Truth is an inherent attribute within love.  The apostle Paul specifies (among other descriptors) as "kind."  In my recent simplification of my own desire to be more "nice"--to be "nice" again since I feel in self-observation and recent reactions to not-nice encounters as well as how I react in nice encounters--I could consider that love is also "nice."

"Nice" is what I consider a bland word, a simple word, a non-colorful descriptor.  "Nice" is like the plainness of snow, or of dirt, or of bland rice.  Yet in each of these objects, we know there is far more to snow, dirt, and rice in marvelous and substantive ways!  So I rather like the word "nice" due to the perhaps jarring, simpleton connotation that may be deceptive as to its basic truism of yet another form of charity, of decency, of love.

Now for the selection that iterates St. Paul's thoughts on love.  I am reminded that Paul certainly was not all that "nice" to the followers of Jesus Christ until he had a mystical experience in which the Lord shook Paul's personal world and spoke to him of Christ's desire and mission for Paul to fulfill, if he would agree.  And Paul agreed with such zeal and constancy that he has remained a major force for teaching Christ and converting people to Christianity over the centuries.

"Christ died out of love for us, while we were still 'enemies.'  The Lord asks us to love as he does, even our enemies, to make ourselves the neighbor of those farthest away, and to love children and the poor as Christ himself.

"The Apostle Paul has given an incomparable depiction of charity: 'charity is patient and kind, charity is not jealous or boastful; it is not arrogant or rude. Charity does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right. Charity bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.'"

Catholic Mystic Hermit: Done with Not-Niceness!

I appreciate this selection from The Catechism of the Catholic Church, numbered entry 1823.  The reminder of what Jesus teaches us as recorded by the Apostle John in his Gospel, helps me all the more each time I am reminded of the great commandment to love.

"Jesus makes charity the new commandment.  By loving his own 'to the end,' he makes manifest the Father's love which he receives.  By loving one another, the disciples imitate the love of Jesus which they themselves receive.  Whence Jesus says: 'As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you; abide in my love.'  And again: 'This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.'"

The more I have pondered the events of the past few days, the more I recognize that I at least "feel" as if I've lost some "niceness" over time and as result of some life circumstances and encounters.  I have always been a very "nice" person, capable of and exuding much love.  However, I feel beaten back, and my reactions have been not-so-nice, or at least that is my realistic view of my thoughts and feelings, even of some responses.

It seems as if a person can get so ground down that the usual "filters" are not intact.

For example, I developed a kind of dread of the purported couple who would be calling to bring Holy Communion.  That dread derived from past encounters and even the conversation with the parish administrator a couple days ago.  (That the couple has not called and likely will not, is not unexpected on my part, of course, but the conversation with the parish woman stirred my thoughts and feelings afresh.)

There is a certain, unfiltered reaction that gets set into motion when I converse with those who have been not-so-nice, and this includes when they think they are being nice.  And my unfiltered reaction is not-so-nice, or at least to me it is not pleasant, not at the spiritual level that is within and without when I am being led and sustained by the Lord.

Rather, the other day I spoke and listened, and listened and commented, and the more I spoke the more information I gained that became even more outrageously not nice.  I said things true enough but in unfiltered light would be perceived very much as not nice.  

What the woman said is all very fine and well in details for a book I will be writing if I even live through this phase and episode of my existence in exile.  And the more details and instances of documentation of words, reactions, and treatment by Catholics to modern day Catholic mystics in this society and culture of the Western Church (and perhaps with some historical context of past treatment of mystics)--the more concrete examples, the better.

However, in information and data gathering, case study style, the more I must detach from the process and especially from the information.  The more I hear and experience as being the subject of case study in point, the more shocking to my thoughts.  The shock shudders and shutters the soul.  How sad and pathetic to realize the facts do not reveal much substantive improvement over the years and centuries regarding the topic: Catholics' treatment of Catholic mystics.

Upon waking this morning, the thought was on the mind: Catholic, but not Christian.

Well, that thought, sentiment, and/or reality can be an affliction of any of us in any Christian sect or denomination or rite within the Roman Catholic Church, or within the Orthodox Christian Church.  In other religions, it could be termed slightly otherwise.  We human beings are none of us perfect, and often enough we are not even that nice.

I had an urge which the Lord quickly quelled by some soul-checks as well as a phone call from the adult daughter who needed to discuss a teaching moment in parenting of their young son.  The urge I had was to call and leave a message on the parish priest's emergency line (for there is no other means of leaving him a direct message), and that it would be that I wish we could just start over.

My experiment of being honest and simply explaining what the ecstasy in Mass is, a simple phenomenon even if kind of rare, I'm told by priests, a bishop and his consulting bishops--the honest approach did not work out well at all.  People judge all the more, became more wary, fearful, and critical, shunning, unaccepting, and overall not nice.

I thought if we could start over and lie, and say I have narcolepsy, the situation would work out better.  As is said, sometimes truth is stranger than fiction; and Catholics and perhaps any group of church-goers or otherwise might in this case handle fiction better than truth.  Many live in fictionalized views of ourselves, anyway.  Or, if we take the filters off, we can say we live in self-deception often enough.

The parish administrator was deceiving herself with her transparent and silly blathering about her son's basketball schedule, convinced, it would seem, that I'd think he did not ever have 20 minutes to help carry drywall with his younger brother.  That fiction to her evidently seemed better than to simply say, "We are wary of you, think you are a nut-case, hysteric, [or could use less blunt terms], and don't want our sons to help you, not at any dollar price."  

But my daughter laughed at my notion, and said of course people want to try deception rather than such honesty; and I think it is because we want to keep up the fiction that we are very nice people, indeed.  Instead, we reveal ourselves as not nice, not living the law of God's love, and also as silly and unconvincing blatherers.  And that, then, can turn off those who want honesty in relationships and who hope for the ideal of truth, especially in a religious context, especially in Christianity in which truth is a major tenet of faith.

So it is that rather than attempting any re-do of what I had attempted in honesty about why I seem asleep or dead in Mass, that it is a mystical ecstasy and not to be concerned--nothing to worry about.  Somehow I thought people could just move on and relate otherwise normally with me who am normal as any of us are normal.  Just a mystic, and that is as normal as those who are not but who might be diabetic or homosexual or bipolar or autistic or narcoleptic.  

Somehow, the supernatural involved (although I think there is spiritual involved in all, but spiritual is perhaps slightly different from supernatural but not by much) causes especially Catholics to be undone to a point of not nice.

I have initiated just the beginnings of research on how the Eastern Church historically has reacted to and treated mystics.  Thus far--again in cursory glance--the Eastern mystics do not seem to be mistreated, not hidden away or put in house arrest, not burned alive nor even shunned.  They don't seem to have "anathema" declared nor are feared.  

But, I have a long way to go in research and reading more in depth.  Seems a bit naive for me to think there are people who are more Christian than Catholic or more Christian than Orthodox--no matter what branch or reformed denomination or non-denomination that evolved from the separated East and West Church.

My initial research already came upon how mystics of other cultures are treated, such as Native American mystics, Tibetan--Buddhist, Hindu, Sikh, Sufi mystics, et. al.  Thus far I find they are treated quite decently--even looked upon with having a value in their societies and groups.  

But thus far in broad reading of the Roman Catholic mystics--their lives have distinct elements of cruelty and abuse, even if for but a short time period in which others think they need to play the role, as a priest once told me he must--and call it, "the devil's advocate."

Lord, have mercy!  The devil certainly does not need priests or bishops or anyone else in the name of Christianity to be his advocate.  The devil does an excellent enough job with his legions of demons and those fallen humans who toddle right along in Satan's cloven-hoofed footprints.

Moreover, the Roman Catholic mystics' mistreatment by those of their own faith, has become a point of warped "proof" that if they suffer greatly as a result of being who and what they are--mystics--and even die as a result, they are all the more valid.  Sometimes they survive the abuse while yet alive, but often they are then in poor health and die earlier deaths.  

Or these dead mystic humans' main contribution to the Church and society ends up being that they endured the brutality of the devil's advocates, and thus are declared valid mystics, with the surviving onlookers delighting in the miracle of how they endured such ill-treatment.  What's this?  They were mystics after all--perhaps to be now-cherished saint trophies.  

And if these mystic human beings survived for long and with enough life left in them to write, or someone to write for them, their bit of writings remain as a little gift to those who might read them.  Although quite often their writings are altered by those not mystics but perhaps systematic theologians or even not, who think they need to correct what they deem improved upon by themselves....

Regardless of all that which in blunt honesty seems not so nice, I am again resolved to throw my body, mind, heart and soul into the Light of Christ's Love.  I will refrain from encounters with those who are not nice as much as is humanly possible to avoid.  The most crucial may be to avoid any not nice that is not nice in myself.  Stay clear of not nice reactions to not nice others and occasions!

I resolve to abide in His love and to imitate His love.  This means to not dally with being a Catholic-but-not-Christian.  I must be Christian and let the Lord decide if other labels ought precede or follow that of being a follower and lover of Christ, and a nice follower and lover, at that.  

I don't need to be, at this point of my grain-of-wheat-crushed-existence, to be distracted by emphasizing my group association.  Roman Catholic Christian or Maronite Catholic Christian? Greek Orthodox Christian or Church of Nazarene Christian or First Baptist Christian?  Or Byzantine Catholic Christian or Ukrainian Orthodox Christian or Coptic Catholic Christian or Evangelical Christian, etc.? 

I'd better just focus on being Christian, a follower and beloved of Christ and His Living Word,.  And to study and appreciate some very nice mystics such as Bernard of Clairvaux who lived just following the Great Schism of the Eastern and Western Catholic Church in mid-eleventh century.  Bernard's Sermons on the Song of Songs will reset my mind and heart in the proper perspective: Love of God and God's Love of His Creation.  

Then, I will also go back in time to those great mystics prior to the Schism, closer to the Lord in time and place and practice.  Or so this seems a wise plan as I desire instruction and inspiration regarding Christ and His Word--and how to live as a loving Christian, then, in my time and place.

I want to be nice again.  Very nice. I hope to be unimpeded in niceness, by which of course I mean charity: love!  I want to love again without such upsetting distractions, especially by my own slip-ups and from within my own Christian group designation. It also seems very much so that God is wanting to do some one-on-one tutorials with me in the silence of solitude, in my life of prayer and penance and praise of God.

Let love and mercy wash away any residual remnants of not-niceness from within me and all about me!  Let love and mercy fill me to overflowing so that love overflows from me!  

I pray to have my thoughts as those of Bernard of Clairvaux or Pseudo-Macarius or John Climacus or many others: Christ-thoughts and Christ-words, Christ-actions, Christ-life!  If this means staying clear of not-nice until I have niceness infused throughout, without stink coming back seven times more powerfully not nicely, then I will see if this plan is Wisdom that will be vindicated by her works in me.

Much love to all of you from an already more nice, more loving me, this Fourth Sunday in Advent!  God bless His Real Presence in us!

Catholic Hermit Praises God for The Nibbler

The little table out by the road upon which this nothing consecrated Catholic hermit places choice, fresh, organic produce is ever a source of lessons and praise.

A few days ago I awoke to a scene out there of smashed, large, ripe tomatoes.  Yes, I'd left some out there as I've done before, as sometimes (often) I cannot get the body physically up off the mattress very early in the morning.  At first I was rather crestfallen, as it was rather destructive, and I thought of the soup base those tomatoes would have made--blended, frozen for winter soups.

However, I then decided it was better to think that some raccoons had gotten them, smashed them.  That was a happier thought than had a passer by done it, for animals are creatures of habit without moral values even if they have temporal souls (while we humans have eternal souls).  [See the section in The Catechism of the Catholic Church on "souls", as St. Thomas Aquinas did masterful writing and had great insights, well-thought out, on the topic of plant and animal, and human, souls.]

Then, over the past week or so, there has developed a situation at the roadside table in which I place out gorgeous, mounded quarts of berries and tomatoes (cherry-size plus some small plum-size beauties).  When I'd go out to check if there needed to be more produce and to collect any contributions, I discovered a "nibbler" had been there.  Quarts were nibbled down halfway--not all but one or two or so.

Well, this was rather discouraging, for I strive to provide "omnia pro Deo"--all for God and my best for God for others even in quarts of produce.  I like it to be bounteous and beautiful, fresh-picked, and sumptuous-tasting.  So if quarts are nibbled down and I do not catch it, some other passer-by may not get the full benefit of bounty and generosity.  

(I never suggest donation amounts for I am striving to detach and totally let God provide.  People may or may not contribute, and I learn to see my own reactions and accept if there is nothing or something, little or much.  It works well this way for my spiritual progress as well as to see how greatly God provides, helps me pay the water bill, compost cost, seeds and plant start costs, and this summer left over to pay my medical bills that popped up unexpectedly.)

So when I first noticed The Nibbler's effects, I was a bit discouraged and put out, frankly.  I considered a small sign at the table saying that if one is hungry or cannot contribute, that is all right--to just take the quart and enjoy it!  But then I decided to wait to see if it would continue.  

It did.  The Nibbler (or perhaps there are more than one nibblers) continued to snack, nibbling down quarts part-way--but also began leaving contributions for the snack.  I figure The Nibbler may be a hiker or cyclist who enjoys the refreshment and wholesome energy boost, en route.  There is nothing remotely nearby, otherwise, to get anything to eat or drink.

And I started to notice that The Nibbler began to leave contributions for the half-quart of snacking.  And I noticed that the contributions were more than generous--plus, if I'd get my head and heart turned Godward, I could see how masterful the Master in making me do more walking and picking to fill up the quarts and return them to the roadside table.  The contributions tend to me more than what i could hope for in a full quart contribution from generous passers-by.

I make out very well, particularly in learning to appreciate The Nibbler for providing me with yet another lesson in perspective and in turning all to God in the positive ways of goodness and fruitfulness that God always provides if we see it His way.  Someone gets a delicious snack along his or her route; I get more exercise and stretching in walking and bending, picking, and replacing; and I also get, most of the time, probably more a tangible contribution than had a person taken the full quart.  

(Sometimes people leave nothing or very little; and my perspective on that is learning the positive of detachment, trust, appreciation and the reminder that all this is God's creation and effort, even down to the energy and ability for me to plant, water, and pick.)  

Definitely, I can praise God for The Nibbler.  I see that I am by far the beneficiary of all good in this effort of a little roadside table and offering fresh, organic produce which depends upon what has grown, ripened, and people desire.  The crows twice got the corn plantings before I realized they were the sneaky culprits. 

I learned about "row covers", and now I'm awaiting with hope, if the weather holds, some corn beyond the 8 ears thus far that the crows did not snatch early on of the plantings.  Yet, a raccoon or two has become "nibblers", and I am dealing with them in a man v. nature mode.  The bird-netting for the berries had a brown rat in it the other day, and I apologized to the rat but explained I was not a saint and thus did not quite have it in me at this phase of my spiritual development, to reach in and try to untangle it.  

I prayed and asked the Lord to ease it from this life peacefully, as the critter was toward the end of its struggle when I happened upon it.  The next morning, some other creature had enjoyed sustenance; the rat had been disposed of, probably in a hawks maw and stomach.  I shared this experience with the grandson who called this morning.  He, age 9, informed me of the scientific term and concept:  nature's food chain.

Praise God for The Nibblers, human and creaturely!  Praise God for bounteous produce, for all He gives us to eat and share, and for generous contributors in our daily lives.  God provides!

Catholic Hermit: Varying Conversation

Well, of course with correspondence or the rare conversation, how this consecrated Catholic hermit approaches, shares, and advises (if others request or ask) depends upon the spiritual level of the person wanting conversation or correspondence.

I simply do not speak only of spiritual with an atheist, for example.  In fact, an agnostic friend emails of activities and inquires of progress here.  This friend who lives far away and engages in typical activities that are all well and good, knows of my vocation, my physical pain, and has been a friend for a few decades.  

However, there is a sharing of ideas, tips, and bits of daily experiences.  This friend asks for advice at times, such as how to strip wallpaper and decor ideas; or also in the past requested input utilizing my mystical gifts.  I helped sort out (sensed into the intentions of) a real estate agent who was not going to be good; and I helped through prayer and blessed item with the sale of home so the friend could simply sell by-owner.  Praise God!  When a partner was dying of cancer, it was this friend who asked me to come be close in on the situation, for support and assistance with the dying process.

So it just depends.  Some family members who are Christians but not Catholic, I converse with differently than with those who seek input from me who are Catholic.  The traditions are different; it would not do to recommend aspects of which they fear, have negative bias, or simply do not understand.  

But with those who are well on the spiritual path, I cannot get too involved with advice which deals heavily with the temporal decisions that we all make in our daily lives.  I admit that sometimes I have asked others for advice or suggestions--feedback or to consult over a major decision, one that is life impacting, relational, or requiring major change.

If a young person, for example, who has never purchased a vehicle, I would readily give advice if asked.  But for those more advanced in the spiritual life with whom the friendship is mostly on spiritual matters, a consecrated Catholic hermit really has no business spending time going over temporal details that are repeat experiences.

When the situation involves health issues, then this hermit's heart opens to repeated discussion.  It is good to soothe, encourage, and "mirror" the other person's concerns, to be supportive in whatever the person needs to discuss relative to upcoming medical tests or procedures or end-of-life decisions.

Or to discuss parenting trends and skills--there may not be other than the spiritual aspect of offering to pray.  The rest may be listening to aspects of behavior, or how the parent has tried to deal with the problem, whether or not it was successful, and then to generate ideas of some other behavioral modification to try.  Or, the conversation or correspondence might include the reminder to keep a sense of humor.

In all conversations and correspondence, I include promises to pray for the person and situation, no matter what.  Yes, I have prayed for the person wanting advice on vehicle purchases, although the prayer was not for the purchase.  Rather, it was that we realize our spiritual priorities, and what we can handle simply, easily in daily life compared to what it is our thoughts and words would be better spent thinking and discussing.

It takes discernment and practice, and much prayer, on my part. I must learn, myself, more and more to think as God thinks--and to "learn" that is mostly praying for the grace of His Mind replacing my thoughts.  In confession prior to Mass this evening, the priest reminded me that the devil often is behind the thoughts we have, particularly thoughts that are errant, discouraging, or superficial--that which distract and waste time and energy.

For a consecrated Catholic hermit, conversation and correspondence is a two-way proposition.  I, too, must discern the quality of my words--verbal and written.  How often have I veered from the level of the spiritual to enter into lengthy diatribes of some very temporal matter that is not worth a minute of repeating, complaining about, or even giving it thought.  So I do have quite a way to go in this aspect of conversing and corresponding.

May His Real Presence and the many people who I've engaged their time and energy in details of temporal, daily life and the various problems therein that we can experience without much difficulty--maybe they all forgive me for not progressing more, myself, in sifting out the unnecessary.

Ah, Mass was exquisite again this evening!  It is as if a burden has been lifted, between the altar and the confessional--His Living Word, the Eucharist, Reconciliation.  Healing!  I am ready to increase the work mode here as well as to increase the spiritual reading again.

Today a woman stopped by the roadside table and saw me out, sanding some ceiling boards.  Beckoning me, she asked about the various vegetables and fruit.  I noticed her cross necklace and the Holy Face medal.  We had a lovely discussion.  The Lord blessed the elevation of mundane to special with just a few thoughts, easily mentioned.  Even produce can produce spiritual conversation, and always there is the silent praying before, during, and after any encounter, verbal, written, or non-verbal.

God bless His Real Presence in us!  Let us love one another, little children, as Jesus loves us; and let us keep our thoughts on things of God, not so much on things below (below our capabilities, below our spiritual level, below our step on the stairway to heaven).

Catholic Hermit Considers Desert Time and Dishonesty

There is a term the folk living in this desert have that is a misnomer, I suppose, of sorts.  They are quite proud of it and what it means to them in lived actuality.  They call it something akin to "desert time."

What it means is that they do not stick to any time frame, such as if they say they will be at work or pick up something being sold used, they do not show up on time or often enough, at all.  The lay and secular people find it to be stylish, and someone once tried to explain it to me--how wonderful it was to be so free--as I had put off doing some tasks so that I'd be free when someone had said he'd come to do an odd job for which he wanted a-plenty per hour.

I waited and waited and waited.  I called and called.  No show, no response.  A person who happened to be in my hermitage to help with some lifting (and had shown up, obviously, but delighted in explaining how "awesome" is "desert time" and that I must get with it!) explained that people in these parts just go with the flow and practically intentionally don't stick to the time frame they have chosen or said.  And, furthermore, everyone knows that and goes along with it--desert time!

This nothing consecrated Catholic hermit asked, "Isn't that sort of unkind to the person who is waiting and wondering for hours and sometimes for a day, or maybe forever in some cases?"

"Oh, no, it is actually very kind--the way desert time works.  Since the other people know that the person is on desert time and might show up a couple hours later or the next day, it gives them even more time to do whatever they might be doing."

I call it desert rude and desert irresponsible (but only in the silence of solitude, sharing my take on desert time with God).

Today a woman was to come between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. to pick up some dirt-cheap windows I had listed for sale.  They would cost $140 or more, new, and these were excellent condition--just too small for the hermitage renovation, so had removed and replaced.

I hauled the windows from the pole barn around 10:30 a.m. and had them by the front gate, and waited.  I waited, and waited, and then needed a pain break and rest.  Around 2:30 p.m. I called to ask if she still wanted them.  "Definitely" she said, and would be over soon.

I waited, and waited, and waited, doing little tasks but not able to get started in anything of duration like painting a ceiling.  A man called, inquiring if I still had the windows as he really wanted them. I said someone else was supposedly coming but had not yet, and I'd call her, and give her an hour.  He was already wanting to come immediately and purchase--good deal that they were.

So I called the lady a third time and asked her if she was still coming, and that someone else wants them, and I told him to give her an hour.  If she still did not come, he could buy them.  The lady was put out a bit and mentioned she'd have to set aside what she was into, doing, and would come.  She made it barely within the hour.  I had started spreading more mulch out by the fence, keeping an eye out for her.

I then called the man back and said the woman did indeed come; the windows were sold.  I am not what anyone could diagnose as obsessive compulsive nor am I the saint of charity by a long shot. However, I do not want to ever catch this disease akin to desert time.

Then there is a point about dishonesty I'd like to make.  Granted, last week was rather chaotic with oddities occurring in just trying to get the proper scan scheduled in a place where there was a working phone number, and then also counting on the neighbor boy to come to work on the times agreed upon.  

Friday morning I had the scan at the hospital imaging center.  The lad called me, and I said I'd be back at the hermitage around 2:15 (but I do not call it that to others since I am hermit, hidden in that regard from the eyes of men, women, and children!).  If he could come over at 2:30, we'd get to work!  He agreed.  I said I'd call again to let him know for sure that I was back.  Seems a kind thing to do, in case something would happen--save him walking the distance to my little place.

I called.  No answer.  I left a message.  A couple hours later I called again.  No answer.  I left a message that since it is difficult to get in touch, or perhaps something had happened to them, I would leave it that I am here, now no need to be going anywhere into the distant future.  He can come whenever he wants to work, or he also can call and let me know his schedule.

The next day, the lad came over, apologized for not showing up the day before, said he'd forgotten.  He then said he could not work the next week because his grandparents were coming to visit.  How long?  He was not sure--maybe a week.  So I said to enjoy his grandparents, and let me know if he wants to work after they leave.

This afternoon when out mulching by the road, I happened to see the lad out riding his bike with another boy, backpacks, heading off.  Ironically, the neighbor lad turned around as he must have sensed me down the way, and I smiled and waved.  So much for having to be on hand for the grandparents.

Now, there may be excellent reasons for the dishonesty.  For one thing, it may seem odd to have an older person in much solitude, renovating a fixer-upper, tending gardens, being a goat on top of the pole barn painting the roof and slip-sliding along.  Also, with the recent health issue and my needing to go to a hospital emergency room, and then the subsequent PET Scan, they may not want to "be involved."  It was not as if they were, but they had decided that I was not an emergency and exclaimed that even the EMS would never take me.

Why?  I was able to stand and to verbalize.  Of course, a little over a day later amid more agony, the EMS was insistent I needed to ride in their vehicle.  And well I did need to go, as it turned out.  I would have called them sooner had I known it was free of charge due to the distance into civilization.  Tax dollars at work.

However, regarding my neighbor lad, it would have been as well and of course much better, had he just said he did not want to work, after all.  I would understand. He is young, and even though the pay on the high side (because young people in this area of the desert do not like to work, and this boy seemed an anomaly), they are a family quite well off. 

Still, dishonesty does not settle well with me, even when a kid or his mother are trying to seem kind or such.  Did they think simply saying, "I don't want to work this summer, after all"" would be unkind?

I'm praising God for the little touch of grace this afternoon, of the lad turning around while pedaling off, seeing me smile and wave.  Caught in the lie, he was, and I know he is a sensitive enough soul that he will realize a bit of sting.  And I, the hermit next door of whom they would never guess am a consecrated religious solitary nor know that I am Catholic, even, has been praying for this family.

And I am praying for this thing called something like "desert time" and the people who live by it.  One might think that it is akin to living in the Order of the Present Moment. But no, it is far from it.  For desert time, or whatever one wants to term it, involves rudeness and irresponsibility.  At root it is selfish, unfocused, uncharitable, and silly. 

As for this nothing consecrated Catholic hermit, once again I see that the Lord is asking of me to do the work here solus Deus, God alone, and to allow Him to help me in ways He chooses.  And for now that is quite at a snail's pace, and with increased bodily pain to which to adapt.  Call upon the Lord, and He will answer!  God is with us, always.

The Order of the Present Moment flows freely, yes.  But in the Order of the Present Moment, the Gospel Rule and the greatest of the command to love God above all else and others as Jesus loves us, is the operational condition.  And in the Order of the Present Moment, all is on God's time yet in respectful truth and goodness.

God Bless His Real Presence in us, little children!  We are all in this life together; let us consider love of one another as Christ loves us.  Ah, but that can be the rub:  we may not know of or grasp or think of or feel Christ's love, so we may not know how to love others as we are loved.  Always much to pray about, all the more!

Whom God Has Consecrated

The following incident in the life of Jesus Christ, and His words and His accuser's reaction, hits the nail on the head.

From John 10:31-42:

"Jesus answered them,
'Is it not written in your law, I said, 'You are gods'"?
If it calls them gods to whom the word of God came,
and the Scripture cannot be set aside,
can you say that the one
whom the Father has consecrated and sent into the world
blasphemes because I said, "I am the Son of God"?
If I do not perform my Father's works, do not believe me;
but if I perform them even if you do not believe me,
believe the works, so that you may realize and understand
that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.'"

How appropriate!  What an answer!

Notice the words:  whom the Father has consecrated.  Apply this situation and Jesus' answer to that of today's church and its accumulated laws as well as their interpretation.  Consider all in relationship to those who discern a call to live a life devoted to and intimate with God, attempting to follow Jesus more closely, with professing obedience to Him, poverty of spirit and worldly tangibles, and chastity in order to step in His footsteps of a chaste and celibate life.

In today's church, this profession distinguishes the consecrated life.  Plus, we must consider the performance of the Father's works.  What are the Father's works?  Are they not the lived efforts and resultant signs of a life lived in beauty, truth, and goodness?  Are the Father's works His will lived out in our own lives, daily, in imitation of Jesus' earthly life and fulfilling God's commandments--highlighted by lived example by Jesus Christ?

By what means and reality is a person consecrated?  Who consecrates a hermit, for example?  Is it a human being who consecrates a hermit?  Is it a church law that consecrates a hermit?  Is it the person him- or herself who consecrates him- or herself?

It is none of these.  God consecrates those whom He calls.  And the consecration is distinguished and validated by the works that the consecrated one performs.

Does the consecrated hermit (or consecrated virgin, widow, religious, member of secular institute or society of apostolic life) perform works in accordance with God the Father?  Are the works inconsistent with the teachings and life example of Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father?  Are the works performed  inconsistent with the commandments of God--the pinnacle being to love the Lord your God with all your strength, all your mind, all your heart and soul--and to love your neighbor as yourself?

Yesterday received a short note from the spiritual father, written and mailed from far away.  Or, is it that he writes to a consecrated Catholic hermit who is far away?  There is that reality of perspective, always. And perspective, if only of self, can confuse and hinder our works.  If that perspective is of the Father, of the Son, of the Holy Spirit, then love will illuminate our works.

This hermit then called him.  It shared some of its recent thoughts as well as the physical struggles.  It shared the considerations of the temporal Catholic church--what some term the secular church--and the sorrow and concerns therein.  As in the time of Jesus and the religion of His upbringing, the temple laws had accumulated over hundreds of years.  And there were people who became intent upon these laws as well as distracted by them to the point of using them to test other people and to judge other people.  

And also, then, they used the laws as a means of meting out consequences if they decided that these other people were not living the laws according to their interpretations of the laws. And the interpretation of these laws included not only the temporal aspects but the spiritual, theological aspects, as well.

The hermit shared with the spiritual father, some of the recent considerations and being judged by others according to their interpretations of the temporal Catholic Church's laws, specifically regarding consecration of those who received calls by God and professed according to those laws, and were striving to live in accordance with the professed avowal, a life of intimacy and with determination and desire in living out a closer, purposeful following of Jesus Christ.  

The hermit made the comment that just as in Jesus' time and life, the laws have seemingly caused division and temptation for some to fall into the wrong kind of judging of others even to the point of writing that others have blasphemed, or will face the torments of hell, or that they have made false claims regarding being consecrated.

The spiritual father responded that Christianity has been lost in such cases, and that this hermit is not dealing with people acting as Christians, as followers of Jesus.  "Where is the charity?" he asked.  "What are their motives for trying to demean others and publicly detract them, and judge and declare them to not be consecrated?"

No one really has the answers to his questions.  Perhaps when and if we act like those questioning Jesus and preparing to stone Him, do not question their own motives nor have answers for themselves.  But they think they have the answers regarding others, even the Son of God.  And in honesty, we can change the pronoun to "we":  We think we have the answers regarding others.  Often enough, we slip into the similar judging.  There were many Jews ready to stone Jesus for what they judged and concluded was His blasphemy.  In their eyes and minds, He was not the one who God consecrated and sent into the world.

This nothing hermit told the spiritual father how it grieves for the problems that canon laws have obviously created in the Church today and perhaps in past centuries.  It noted the inconsistencies of interpretation, the hypocrisies, the personal conflicts that arise as a result, and the temptation to use the laws as a means to elevate oneself over others, or at minimum the distraction that the focus by some upon the laws causes in our losing the pearl of great price.  

The hermit mentioned the Catholic high school as reported in the news, of which the school administrators are requiring the girls to bring in photographs of the dresses they plan to wear to the school prom (dance) so that they may be approved.  The consequences of not wearing an approved dress is to be turned away from the dance upon arrival.  

There are obstacles that the new rule is already facing.  Parents and students alike are in division over it.  The school is merely trying to enforce the moral decency so that dresses are in keeping with a standard of modesty, in line with chastity.  But it is becoming a nightmare of strife.  The process is taking time and focus away from other aspects of education.  People are essentially picking up stones, readying to throw them at the administrators and at each other.  What if a girl takes in a photo of a dress she'd like to wear, and by the time it is approved, the store has sold the dress?  

This and several other tangible problems are popping up.  What difficulties will those trying to enforce the rule encounter, the night of the prom, trying to match photos of approved dresses with what the girls are actually wearing?  And, what if those making the decisions to approve or disapprove, in the offset have different values in judging, or from one day to the next have personally different feelings regarding what dress passes and what does not?  It can happen. We are but contrary and fallible humans.

So we see just in this example, the trouble with human laws, even if the intentions are good in wanting to stop what are or could be abuses and inconsistencies with Christian values.  But it seems, as in the larger example and "picture", that the solution resides within each of us:  Are we performing the works of God?  Are we living the commandments?  Can we or others believe in the works themselves, or are the works gone awry, counter to Jesus' teachings and life, counter to God's commandments?  In the situation above, if the parents and the girls themselves, live in accordance with God, there will not be the problem of dressing immodestly.  But the problem remains that not all who say they are following Christ, are; or they may not be following consistently or in truth, beauty, and goodness.

There has been a loss of the humble and sincere following in Christ's footsteps, of trying with each step each day and night, to place our feet into the imprints of His feet, exactly as he stepped out His life on earth.  There has been a loss of focusing on His teachings, His laws of love, obedience to God's will, of poverty to our tendency to pride and lust and selfishness, His laws of living in purity of body, mind, heart, and spirit.

Who consecrates us--any of us?  Who confirms us as Christians?  How do we know we are consecrated?  How do we know we are Christians?  

We (and others) will know by our works.  If we do not believe that God consecrates us and that God is in us and we are in God, we and others will know by our works.  Works that are in keeping with Christ's teachings and the commandments of God--and of these love is the greatest--are the proof of the fulfillment of God's laws.

Yes, they (and we) will know that we are Christians by our love, by our love....  It is God Who consecrates us, not laws, not even laws created by church leaders.  They might write out what seems to be the consensus of how hermits have lived, based upon the holy prophet eremites cited in Scripture and noted by their works, and the life-traits and spirituality of holy hermits in the past two thousand years, evidenced by performing God's works.  But it is God Who consecrates, and it His commands and His Son's life example that form the benchmark of what is the performance of God's works.

God bless His Real Presence, and may our bodies, minds, hearts and spirits be Christ-open and Christ-worthy abodes of His indwelling.  Love one another, and remain in His Love!