I was just praying for Wisdom to come sit at my gate (alluding to the Book of Wisdom's wording), and I was also praying for guidance as to what God wants of me right now for my pain limits me, and particularly injured right thumb is keeping me from the manual labor necessary to make progress in finishing this place as it needs to be sold before long.
So I was wondering what other the Lord wants of me right now, and if I should remain here through the stormy season or accept a family member's offer to fly me away to better climate, as this weather increases spinal pain--which has nothing to do with the thumb. Since I have no idea of knowing how long I will be hindered from manual labor, I hesitate to leave, for what if I could even paint a little trim now and then? It would be progress.
Or such as today, there were brief hours of break in the storms, and I was given the energy needed to bathe. (The suffering the past ten days has been rather brutal and fatiguing.) And I know that it is not all just weather-related, for the Lord is behind and in and above all aspects of creation. For whatever reason or more, He has me hamstrung, essentially. Slowed down to near stop.
For whatever reason, also, I did a little online search of hermits, and I came across an online offering of a book of orthodox hermits. The dedication includes the following quote from a hermit new to me: St. Syncletica. I appreciate what she wrote a long time ago. It reminds me of hope and of the joy that comes after the battles, after the suffering, and through hard work. (I realize reading this book when in pain and tired will be hard work, but probably what the Lord also wants of me currently, at least in bits and pieces while I am on the mattress, suffering.)
So of the hermit life, this female hermit and ascetic wrote:
"In the beginning there are a great many battles and a good deal of suffering for those who are advancing towards God, and afterwards, indescribable joy. It is like those who wish to light a fire; at first they are choked by the smoke and cry, and by this means obtain what they seek. So we also must kindle the divine fire in ourselves through tears and hard work." --St. Syncletica
I am not at the beginning of my hermit journey, but as I have reflected recently about phases of the hermit life (and of the spiritual life, of course), there are always beginnings of phases, of degrees of depths, of the transitions and metamorphoses into new phases and levels of the hermit's spiritual journey. These are so both in the spiritual realm as well as our being yet in the temporal space of our earthly existence.
I'll see what the various orthodox hermits share through their writings, but perhaps more so, it is their friendship as fellow hermits and children of God that will help inspire and illuminate and give direction. Now is yet another of my time being physically hindered--yet on the cusp of a new phase, whatever and wherever that will be--even if on the other side of the "veil" and the "vale."
God bless His Real Presence in us; and thank you, Wisdom, for being at my gate today, and offering me this book as an answer as to how to spend some of the time while incapacitated with suffering!
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