Catholic Hermit: Relying All the More IN Christ

It's been awhile since I've written.  Been working very hard physically, trying to get the hermitage (old farm house) finished.  It is time to be moving on.  Finances and weather affecting the pain issues require relocation.  Changing location is nothing new for hermits following the traditional eremitic vocation.  Some were more transient than those who found a hut in a forest or a cave in the mountains in which they could remain hidden for all their earthly years.

However, perhaps it is not the ideal--to have to relocate.  Once again, the hermit vocation is guided by the Lord in individual ways, conforming the soul and the body, the spiritual and the temporal, to what is, not what one wishes or would like to plan as the "ideal."  God knows best; God unfolds and guides this consecrated Catholic hermit's every present moment--lest I forget that reality!

For nearly 34 years now, the Lord has utilized physical pain to help contain me in the channel of His will.  I was making progress in the past few weeks with the manual labor as well as the spiritual life: prayer and pondering His Living Word.  I had lovely help from mortals in loading a rental truck to take some of the earthly possessions to a storage unit; I had someone even help share the driving.  

But a pain siege struck me down, and I'm still down but through the worst of the suffering.   Flying back and returning to Te Deum Hermitage is rather a blur.  This pain siege included some black-out periods; I remember not much of the past three days.  Yet God's Real Presence is quite clear.  Praise Him for all the miraculous helps and providence!

The temptation even in remaining on sleeping bag on floor in here, is to consider what next, where next, and how next.   But to remain in The Order of the Present Moment includes keeping the mind in the present; thinking ahead is not productive nor peaceful.  A temporary plan is all the Lord is allowing me--to get somewhere in which I am able to stay temporarily once this abode is finished and sold is as far forward as He allows.  One door at a time is opening, and beyond that one door, there are other doors but all with locks for now.

Relying on Christ is the only way to proceed in life as well as the only way to truly rest in Christ.  The operative word is "in"--not "with," not "through," but "in."  The need is to be in Him, securely so.  How to effect that--how to be "in" Him?

The recent Gospel readings in which Jesus tells us that He is the Living Bread, and that all those who come to Him will have eternal life, will have Him, explain the reality as it stands.  It is simply a matter of loving Christ and desiring to be in Him, and to ask Him to take us into Himself.  We give ourselves to Him, and He takes us in.

And in faith, in simple belief of His loving desire to take us into Himself and to keep us fast in Him, the action and reality is effected.  We thus are in Him.

More than my being on this sleeping bag, under the blanket and in the temporal warmth of covering, I am in Christ right now as I breathe, think, feel, and write.  When I but think about being "in" Christ, I have a share in and of His peace.  The concern of what is ahead no longer dangles words nor images in my mind.  The concern of pain limiting forward progress in the temporal or spiritual no longer frustrates the emotions; plans of what is to be are deleted from the mind-screen.

In Christ, there are marvelous surprises!  Yesterday while dealing with higher level pain, I received a phone call from the spiritual father!  Totally unexpected, and I'd not heard his voice in a couple or more years. Ironically, it was the day of temporal birth--a fact he has never known.  But the Lord allowed it as a surprise and most welcome birthday gift.  And a gift to him, perhaps if the Lord allows in Him, in His Present Moment, there might be a  temporal, physical visit from this hermit to the spiritual father at some present moment point in another time and place.

Yet we can grasp now, how unnecessary are thoughts on what may or may not be future present moments as well as how unnecessary returning to past present moments, in general.  Remaining in the present moment of which we are in Christ Who Is always in His Real Presence in the Present Moment keeps us best in Him.  When we take ourselves to past moments or imagine future moments, we distance ourselves from being in Christ; we dilute the power of being in Him in His Real Presence of which He is most omnipotent and omniscient in His Present Presence.

It seems to help me to pray--to ask Him to keep me in His Real Presence in His Present Moment.  Some aspects of our temporal lives do seem to require some planning, such as I had to reserve a rental moving truck and a rental storage unit, and I had to communicate with a couple teens to help load the truck, and communicate and coordinate with another who would come and help drive the distance.  But I noticed how the bulk of all the temporal aspects of the past few days resided in His will and His will alone, for all the aspects--temporal and spiritual--relied upon His providence, His will, His choosing.  

The pain siege certainly came of His providence in the present moment--totally unexpected as much as the duration of it is unknown-to-me.  Suffering is powerful and special like that--as is any type of death to self:  We know not the day nor the hour.  That sums up living in Christ, for when we live in Him, we do not know other than peaceful resting in Him which includes remaining in His Love, His Will, and in His Powerful Pain.

Catholic Hermit: What Is of Above; What Is of the Earth

From the Gospel of John, Chapter 3:31-36:

"The one who comes from above is above all.
The one who is of the earth is earthly and speaks of earthly things.
But the one who comes from heaven is above all.
He testifies to what he has seen and heard,
but no one accepts his testimony.
Whoever does accept his testimony certifies that God is trustworthy.
For the one whom God sent speaks the words of God.
He does not ration his gift of the Spirit.
The Father loves the Son and has given everything over to him.
Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, 
but whoever disobeys the Son will not see life,
but the wrath of God remains upon him."

The nothing consecrated Catholic hermit awoke this morning, quite early, in the usual--but higher than sometimes--pain.  The right kidney area has been affected greatly since the previous major pain siege.  It is merely a new aspect of pain of which the hermit must embrace and accept, and eventually learn to distract the mind from it.  This will occur over time.  Periodically there are new areas of pain added to the conscious awareness of this earthly body.

Is today the day to attempt getting up and trying to press forward in physical activity?  Or should there be yet another day of increased pain meds enough to allow the mind and body to rest and have reprieve, the mind and emotions from the bodily, earthly pain?  Am drinking some heated-up, three-day-old coffee and eating some chocolate covered almonds a friend sent, while assessing the bodily situation. Firstly, however, drank some very healthy Green Glory--the hermit's name for a veggie-fruit smoothie.

Now, the chocolate covered almonds are not healthy other than the almonds and perhaps a tinge of the chocolate...had it been dark chocolate.  Yet the temporal truth of the matter remains that sugar helps increase the endorphins in the brain, which are the body's natural, brain pain aids.  

Natural sugar such as in fruit is healthier than the raw sugar in milk chocolate-coating on the almonds.  But the raw sugar acts faster, and the hermit's pain level is such that it requires either faster-acting endorphin stimulators or increased pain meds.  The hermit prefers to medicate with the sugar first, in case the mind is able to gain ground over the bodily pain this morning.

The hermit has nearly 31 earth years of lived experience, plus much knowledgeable, temporal-research on the topic of pain. This regimen works even if a combination of unorthodox, not-so-healthy, temporal elements.  Who's to say, though, that ingesting more temporal pain medication for a third day might not be that good for the mortal body, either?  One thing for certain, too high of pain is not good--stresses the body, the mind, the emotions, and ultimately puts the spirit to the test of peril, as well.

Thus far in this post, the words have been of what is of the earth.  The written communication is of temporal pain, body, and thoughts on elements of various pain relievers.

But Jesus in His Living Word states that the one who comes from above is above all.  And the one who God sent speaks the words of God, and He does not ration God's gift of the Spirit.

Which of these does this nothing consecrated Catholic hermit want?  Does it want to be of the earth and to speak earthly things, or does it desire to be from above and above all?

If this hermit wants to be in union with His Real Presence, then it must be with Him and from above and above all.  It must speak the words of God and accept the fullness of God's gift of the Spirit.  As Jesus does, so must the hermit do...by the grace of God and the best of its ability and discipline of its God-given free will.  (Remember, the human soul, created in each of us by God, consists of the intellect and the will.)

The successful saints and mystics throughout Christian history chose to be with Him from above and above all.  They thought and spoke the words of God and accepted His fullness of the gift of the Spirit.

So must this nothing consecrated Catholic hermit.

As for the current temporal circumstances, down to the last nub of mortal energy and effort on a temporal abode and the few temporal, in-person interactions--these are of the earth. Choices need to be made.  Is it to be from above or from the earth?

If a soul chooses to be from above with the Above, it must let that from the earth be of the earth.  Otherwise, there is conflict of interest, as is said often enough of temporal issues. In the writing, the words ought be of that which comes from above, of the words of God, and of thoughts and actions of the Spirit.  In the thinking, likewise.  In the interactions with others, the same:  Be of that which comes from above--the words of God and the thoughts and actions of the gift of the Spirit.  Be of and in His Real Presence.

Now, this can come down to the details even of the temporal Church, or as some call it the "secular" Church.  Other than the Mass in which is the fullness of truth and the seven sacraments inclusive, the other aspects are of the earth.  The committees, the positions, meetings, prestige and fund-raisers, labels and titles, temporal decisions and rules, the decor and garb, are of the earth.  

The Mass and the Sacraments within are of God above.  (We ought be honest even if it seems painfully, nakedly stripped and whipped.) When what is of earth and speaking the words of earth, is all set aside, we have in and around us what is from above and the words of God and of the gift of the Spirit. We can more readily "see" in order to think, do, and be, according to our choice of free will, what is or what is not of earth or of heaven.

A consecrated Catholic hermit, the nothing to His All that it is, has the luxury of being able to choose the rather extreme in the stripping and whipping away of what is of earth.  His Real Presence provides this luxury through the temporal aspects of pain...actually.  But the luxury needs to be chosen and accepted for and as the gift that it is.  And then it must be utilized as gift and as way of life-beingness from above, not of the earth.  

The temporal is passing away, as we are told by Jesus.  And whoever believes in the Son has eternal life.  We are also told this truth.  We can choose to be with and in one from above, or to be of and from the earth.  (Attempting to be partly of above and partly of earth, causes a fissure of which the below wins out by temporal gravity.)  This hermit has had enough of hair- and word- and life- and soul-splitting.

The process of choosing can be relatively quick.  The process of accepting and living in the one from above and not of the earth, can be however long is life.  One wonders if the process of accepting and living in the one from above extends into eternity?  Does the process include such as in the phase we term "purgatory", or the purgation of what remains in us of that which is of earth--whatever is lacking in us of good, or clinging to that which is temporal and passing?

Now the hermit must turn to reading of that which is from above, in preparation for a phone discussion later in the temporal morning of time that is gifted from above.  And for that reading, to have the mind more alert means there is a decision to not take the temporal pain medication that would give the temporal body additional respite from temporal pain.  

The thoughts and words that the hermit will read and which come from above will assist in this transitional day of the body's pain siege needs.  Then the mind, heart, and spirit's assumption into the above will be upward--more into the One Who Is from above--and of and into the words of God, and of the un-rationed gift of His Spirit.

Choose, accept, and strive to be with the one who is above.   Through, with, and in Him, be above all. Speak the words of God; testify to what has been seen and heard.  Accept Jesus' testimony; God is trustworthy.  Believe in the Son and have eternal life.  Disobey the Son, and lose the sight of life of, from, and in the above.

Not everyone will grasp this hermit's intent or the challenge. Some are anchored in earth and think and speak of earthly things. This hermit has done so, often enough.  It will not be easy to shift.  The process could be made easier if the hermit asks for and utilizes the God-proffered graces of great faith, desire, and strength of will.  

If this hermit relinquishes its grip on things of the earth--even the emotional attachments to perceived earthly needs-- then the process of being, thinking, and speaking of that which is above will flow from the power of the Spirit--given in fullness, not rationed.  All has been given over from the Father to the Son, and this hermit is being invited into the Son.  

It accepts!

Now to live as from above, in One who is from above and above all, not from earth and of earthly things.  Living from above is a process requiring relinquishing of earthly habits and ways of perceiving.  This requires accepting the power His Real Presence desires to pour into this soul.  There may be quite a few earthly hindrances remaining to be expunged. We shall find out.  

Even though it seems this soul has been emptied over the years of temporal time, by the scourges of beautiful pain and suffering, there may likely be things of earth holding it from all that is above all.  And, there may be good ways of using that of the earth as steps on the stairway to heaven.  


A friend's package arrived the other day.  Inside were the chocolate-coated almonds and a tin of colored pencils with the suggestion the hermit enhance the Living Word with what the temporal trends call "Bible Art."  Says it will immerse the body, mind, heart, and spirit all the more into His Living Word.  

(This may be one way of body, mind, heart, and soul spiraling in Christ, upward from earth with Him to above, utilizing temporal pencils and color into eternity of thought and God's Life-In-Word.)

God bless His Real Presence in us!  Little children, let us love one another for God Is Love!  Remain in His Love.  His Love is from above and above all!