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!

Meekness Needed

Just read the "step" on the ladder of Divine ascent, in which John Climacus writes of meekness and simplicity, among other aspects of similar virtue.

More on it later, but to add now that meekness is needed here.  That calm that must be within in order to possess true humility...that is meekness.

When awoke this morning, yesterday's frantic efforts in manual labor tasks found berth in the recent memory.  No task was finding completion; always some aspect was an obstacle.  Went from task to task, to no conclusion or fulfillment.  Even framing a wall had to cease.  Somehow it is not true and straight from one end, to the other.  Cannot figure out why so am waiting with hope that Raphael will indeed send one of his men to help.  Some tasks do best with two sets of hands.

With the pain level burning already upon waking, the nothing pondered if it could ever attain meekness in any consistency, given the agitation burning pain prompts.  If one centers in, the pain stirs frenzy.  If one distracts out, the pain is not noticed but yet smolders--bursts afresh into leaping flames, crackling and chaotic.

Perhaps His Real Presence is pleased if this nothing keeps trying, though?  Perhaps trying is about as far as this body, mind, heart, and soul will achieve in meekness? Or desire for meekness?  How it yearns to be calm, consistent, not fluttered by obstacles, not reactive to the fire of pain of any type.

There are those called fire walkers.  Yet they do not exist in nor walk always on the fiery coals.  Their learned ability to detach and transcend the effects of what would or ought have their feet blistered and their mouths screaming, is temporary.  Perhaps this nothing aspirant of His Real Presence had best be quite grateful for the desire and attempts at traversing a life of constant burning.

God can do all things through him who loves Him.  Meekness needed here.  Watching or reading world news is not helping, unless one considers heaping more wood on the fire to be helpful.  And if a person is very cold and in need of warmth for survival, having wood on hand and stoking the fire is a good thing.  But if already burning and needing not fire but ashes, it seems best to stay warm without temporal accelerants.

God bless His Real Presence in us!  Little children, let us love one another for God Is Love! Jesus is meek and humble of heart.  We have a new day in which to desire and try yet again, in the virtues such as meekness, that helps fuel love.

Chastity

Continuing reading on chastity in St. John Climacus' The Ladder of Divine Ascent.

Have not dealt with the visceral, the lustful, sexual aspects of lust in years, but could relate totally with how the process operates on the body and the mind, and how the devil tempts--even if a person is called to the married state.  

Regardless, the effort for gaining chastity is life-long and known to all souls, as we are melded to our bodies while on earth.  The natural instincts rise in puberty and often don't leave in thought or in bodily stirrings.

Of note, it is mentioned that those who think they have achieved victory over their bodies and minds in this regard, are fooling themselves.  And, this leads into the aspect of chastity as a virtue of purity, and purity includes not just the psychosexual and physical, sexual inclinations of the human body, mind, and emotions.  Purity extends to other levels, reaching into the soul to desire and grasp what is the freedom of the angels in this regard.

Another point about chastity is that blessed is the soul who has no more nor less attraction to animate beings than to inanimate beings.

And for this, we know that some humans (and animals) are born with seemingly more tendency to sexual prowess and desires, inclinations, than others.  Some are more spiritually inclined, or able to transcend the body, but not out of disgust or perversion against sexuality or mating for the purposes of propagation of our and their species.  For these persons, chastity may not pose as great an obstacle or life-long battle of higher degrees, but there is always the prize of other forms of chastity, or purity, to be desired, gained, and if gained, to honor and hold.

Everything John Climacus writes as to the wiles of the devil (and the devil in others or in us as tempter and provoker of unchaste conquests), this nothing can certainly relate with.  But there was a time when it would not have been able to know from experience, the manipulations and the deceptions of the human mind when concupiscence comes to clutch the body, mind, and emotions.

This is a blessing, and knew it fairly soon into the process.  It was something His Real Presence needed this nothing to learn and thus to be greatly humbled by the force of not only desires but the sheer cunning of the devil in trying to debase one's chastity.  Frankly, it was awful, and the bulk of the battle was in extricating from the relationship.  The outcome came when the Lord allowed the inner will and strength to mount to a point of knowing with certainty that He was the desired Beloved and none other.

For those called to other ways upon earth, in their spiritual journeys, they live and learn chastity within a sanctioned and holy relationship.  It seems as if God arranges quite perfectly, even our falls from grace, and shows us for ourselves, what we truly desire when we get out of the predicament.

Climacus explains, also, the reason why illicit sexual relations are considered to be "falls", when other sins are termed "lapses."  In the earlier centuries, there were stiff consequences by the Church for those who "fell" in fornication.  Twelve years without the sacraments, and the sinner had to show deep repentance.  For heretics, their lapse was considered not as terrible because it could be they were ignorant of the faith.  As consequence, once they repented with heart-felt sorrow and new zeal for the faith, they were required to have four years of catechesis, but most could receive the sacraments immediately or soon, depending upon their return and conviction.

But, all that, as we know, has changed in our times.  It perhaps is another example of how the temporal can shift, and to live too much involved and caught up in rules and temporal consequences, is not the same as the soul's intimate repentance and conversion with His Real Presence, and suffering the far worse (or so it seems) consequences of having offended Him.  The agony and remorse is so great when the soul repents with God as his soulmate, that other external consequences don't seem to carry the same weight.  

Yet, receiving the Sacraments when in grave sin, is not wise, in a spiritual aspect.  No, it is rather serious; but only the soul who strives for chastity even if with imperfection--but with desire to be pure--would know how wretched it is to partake of His Body and Blood when so chained to wrong doing.  It does seem rather impossible for the temporal Church to even begin to try to place restrictions on those who fornicate, for how could they manage?  It comes down to a trust issue, between the soul and the confessor, perhaps.  

But truly, it seems best dealt with between the soul and His Real Presence.  If the person in sin has not the desire to change nor the contrition of heart, not struggling sincerely to overcome the unchaste behavior, that soul becomes hardened and deceived.  However, the one who knows his wrong for what it is even if cannot yet overcome the vice, will anguish when receiving His Body and Blood, and know deep within how he is defiling God, seriously, painfully.  These considerations, though, have to do with various, particular conditions of individual souls.  All of us have chastity to gain....

Again, it would be very difficult to enforce, externally, sacramental consequences in our times.  His Real Presence handles it, within each soul, either during life or at judgment.  What is sad is that we people tend not to fear, and allow ourselves to be convinced that we are chaste, when there are always degrees and the whole aspect of purity in various levels, not just bodily.

Reading what John Climacus has to say on this particular step in the Divine Ascent, brings up many other truths and considerations with the virtue of chastity--far more than the little bit of discussion here.  

It is worth reading, this book, and prayerfully considering his knowledge and wisdom from a time closer to the days Christ taught on earth, and the experiences of the apostles in working out a less encumbered church, at least the temporal aspects of Her, than now.  Seems good to comb through some centuries' worth of this and that, and get down to some basics.  Chastity, plain and pure, for instance.

God bless His Real Presence in us!

Clarification and Caveat on Reading Spiritual Books

In clarifying that an older priest thought the advice and guidance of St. John Climacus to be "too hard" or "too harsh" (as he has in past mentioned Padre Pio may have been just too harsh or sharp-tongued with penitents in confession), am sure if the priest was sent the book and read it, he would find the words of John Climacus to be quite astute and rather balanced.

As to balance, one must take into consideration the goal.  If the goal is to be lukewarm or to strive in the spiritual life to a mid-point, such as 50 percent spiritual, that is better than to not strive much at all, or to have a 25% attitude.  If one desires spiritual perfection, then striving to go "whole hog" makes sense, and if one lands somewhere in the 90th percentile, that is excellent!

This nothing Catholic hermit used to respond to a priest or two who would rebuff that the hermit was too extreme in trying to do what amounted to what Jesus said to do.  And in that, this hermit did not do it well at all, really.  But it seemed the hermit was doing enough other than what the priests were used to in parishioners, so that it seemed extreme and out of balance to their perspective.  So the hermit would explain that it was indeed balanced and just average, if one could view being in the middle of a greater extreme.

(This makes better sense if one draws a horizontal line and marks it off in units of ten, and then aims for the last unit, moving from left to right or right to left.  Then within that last unit which otherwise might seem an extreme, place oneself smack-dab in the middle of that last unit.  That is a good place to aim when one desires to climb the holy mountain.  Go for the summit but without stepping over the peak and losing balance, falling down the other side.)

So this nothing Catholic hermit is going to send a copy of John Climacus' Ladder of Divine Ascent as a gift for the priest who is also a dear friend.  Once he starts to read it, page by page and step by step, he will see that it is not too hard nor too harsh.

________________

Now comes the caveat.  It is probably not prudent to cherry pick aspects of a book written by a wise and holy saint of any era and think one can assess or critique it.  In other words, do not just go on the few parts this nothing hermit has set forth in this blog and make judgment accordingly.  Do not try to assume it is too hard or harsh, or that it has error in it, or is not applicable to our lives today.  One must read it from preface through to the end, in which John Climacus writes about faith, hope and love.

What the point of this nothing Catholic hermit's sharing aspects of the various steps in this excellent guide for any hermit or any Christian or any secularist, is to chronicle how this hermit's life and soul are being helped by having such a solid guide whose advice and counsel flows from lived experience, Christ's own words, as well as the writings of Apostles and prophets in the Bible.  It is not as if one is choosing a guide whose life did not produce beautiful fruit or whose soul was not perfected.  John Climacus is one of several holy souls whose writings can guide us in practical ways, augmenting and fleshing out the Living Word of God.

But get that book or whatever other that is proven and outstanding over time and the reading by many souls over the centuries.  READ IT from page to page and start to finish.  Apply the guidance to daily life.  Practice what is advised to learn, and avoid what is advised to avoid.  Know that none of it is too hard, nor unbalanced, nor not suitable to our lives in our time period.

As the saint wrote within the counsels, that while the book was written mainly with monks in mind, it also is for any soul who desires to grow closer in Christ, who wishes to follow Him to a more pure ideal.  Yes, just because John Climacus had monks and solitaries in mind, the discourses or steps of spiritual help and perfection are for anyone, for he mentions:   "Angels are the light of monastics, while the monastic state is a light for all men."

As for if following the advice in straightforward manner, or if it "works", bringing the spiritual results desired, that all depends upon the one reading and digesting the counsels.  This nothing Catholic hermit, for example, is not strong enough today to give away all its possessions, for example!  It has not cut off totally thoughts of the world, and the temptations to leave the discomforts of this hermitage and greener and lovelier "pastures."  

This hermit did not have the fortitude, to begin with, to go to an austere place, where people will rebuff and criticize and exclude--as Climacus advises that as a sure help in gaining humility.  But the hermit finds itself in such a place, led here by God by praying for where to be.  His Real Presence provided what He knew would stretch this hermit to seeming beyond ability to cope, where this nothing hermit is in some aspects literally in rags now, upon a dunghill, and learning the phases of mourning that are positive and holy-necessary for a spiritual aspirant to learn, for the love of God.

Reading extraneous stuff, especially that of the temporal world, may not be toxic, but much of it is not going to help the aspiring soul reach the summit.  It is like eating empty calories.  This nothing Catholic hermit over time has given up much extraneous reading materials, yet recently, probably due to the mind fearing drawing too close to God, fearing too soon--it has taken to distracting itself with too much news of the day.  Fear is a sure hindrance, and too much is too much. 

Still, this nothing Catholic hermit prays that each of you readers is led by God to whatever helps come to you from holy souls who have withstood the test of time.  May they be tried and true by the known fruits of their lives and by the proven spiritual results in their writings over the centuries.  Above all may what we ingest of others' guidance be known in these guides' fruitful union with His Real Presence.

God bless His Real Presence in us!  Little children, let us love one another and remain in His Love!

Who to Believe?

This morning awoke quite early in much pain.  Then the pain of the mind, heart and soul inched up, too.  However, returned to Scriptures and then praying the Divine Office.  Noticed in Office of Readings, St. Cyprian has much to share about renouncing the world!

Then a friend sent an email with a homily on the same topic, with some quotes from Theresa of Jesus (St. Theresa of Avila).

In a phone conversation the day before Thanksgiving, this nothing Catholic hermit mentioned to an older priest, some of what St. John Climacus writes.  The priest responded that it sounded "too hard." 

Since then, have reflected upon what others of our time have written, suggesting that we need a softer church, or that some theology is passe, or that we don't need to take the spiritual life so seriously, or be likable and relatable, removed from controversy, just get along, no matter.

But then Fr. V. writes from Africa, expressing quite soundly, that by this stage in the nothing Catholic hermit's spiritual journey, it ought to well know that the world holds nothing good for it.  He wrote more, and some reminding this hermit to let go of those who have hurt or caused problems relative to the temporal world.  Plus, to not ignore nor diminish the constant efforts of the devil trying to disrupt the hermit in any way possible.  Fr. V. added that perhaps this taking lightly the force and trickery of the devil may be the American culture in not understanding, but to learn to--at every turn-- rebuke the devil and say, "Get behind me, Satan!"

Anyway, who does one believe, and what does one believe, regarding spiritual guidance, teaching, and paths?  Can these saints, who left writings for us, be out-dated in their content, guidance, and life examples?  Do people's souls and the trials of their souls somehow change over the centuries?  Do the tenets of the spiritual climb up the holy mountain need to change, also?  Does the devil change?  Does the narrow path, the narrow gate, of which Jesus speaks, no longer need be narrow--or not that narrow, now, in our enlightened century?

Do we quibble with Teresa of Avila or John Climacus, or John of the Cross or Therese of Lisieux and discount the seeming hardness of their advice and their paths by which they successfully came to sanctification--including much suffering and also much self-discipline?  Was St. Therese of Lisieux rather warped when she wrote of offering herself as a holocaust, as a victim soul of love, to Jesus, vowing to suffer all in helping Jesus save souls?  Are we in some new age of greater theological knowledge and understanding, such that we have outgrown what may seem too narrow or too hard?

Or, do we listen to the likes of St. John Climacus who warns to not pay attention to those who try to soften the lessons, who try to say the world's allures are not a snare, who bring up various points in order to try to convince us that we are deluded and deceived by old ways not at all necessary or even advised for today's Christian?

This nothing Catholic hermit considered the same older priest who awhile ago lamented and questioned why priests and bishops in general, today, do not have the powers to heal and to work miracles, that Jesus' first priests, the Apostles, were given.  He even said why aren't more Catholics imbued with spiritual gifts, as well?

Perhaps it has to do with that attitude expressed in the recent conversation, regarding the guidance of John Climacus:  "sounds too hard."  

When we read the very words of Jesus Christ in Scripture, or of the apostles, we do not read that the way is broad and easy.  We do not read that we ought embrace the ways of the world, or to soften the Church.  St. Paul made his words quite stringent when chastising the laxities already occurring in the early churches.  We people just can't seem to take what we are told by God Himself, and at last try to stop thinking on things of this realm and to think on that which is above, of the spiritual realm, of heaven.

We seem to have fallen into many of the snares that John Climacus and others warn against.  Even in his advice on despondency, Climacus goes against what we may think so wonderful, in going out and about trying to rescue others, when in fact we are the blind trying to lead the blind.

But that status can change.  And it seems to this nothing Catholic hermit, that when it has done what is not advised by these saints of old, even down to some specific aspects, that there are pitfalls and a falling away from the power and strength and love in His Real Presence.  When, such as this morning this hermit returns to what is advised, and does not shrink from prayer, and does not doubt or allow itself to be influenced by others who have titles or seem to have much knowledge, the hermit's soul, heart, mind, and body fare far better.

Fr. V. advised in his strong message of staying with the saints and of the Scriptures, and to renounce that which is not helpful.  In stating that the world has nothing good nor lasting nor soul-satisfying to offer this soul (or any soul), he includes the temporal church as being caught up, also, in the world.  But he adds that there are some worthy Christians who yet stand in contradiction to the world that is reflected in aspects of today's temporal Church.  

Let us be of those worthy.  Let us not shrink from what "sounds too hard," too harsh, seems old-fashioned or out-dated, or not sophisticated in the temptation of delicious, intricate and tantalizingly intelligent words.  Let us read the words in Scripture and heed.  Let us consider as a successful guide, some saint of yore whose life lived and words written have helped countless souls over the centuries.  Let us believe those who dared not diminish that which was given to them to share with others: encouragements and wisdoms in actually walking through the narrow gate and along the narrow path.  

Let us pick up the cross daily of which Jesus speaks and offers us.  Let us follow Him, as He asks us to follow in His footsteps.  Where does He lead?  "Quo vadis?" Jesus asked Peter.  Where, again, did Jesus go?  By what way?

Well, where are we going and by what way and in what means?  Who do we follow?  To whom do we listen?  Who do we believe of those who have lived and journeyed as Christians, who might help guide us with assurance that we will arrive for the heavenly reward?

Even in seeking a contemporary, a living spiritual guide or father in this life, we must ask questions. We must listen to the comments and make observations.  If the narrow path is deemed too hard, then perhaps we need to seek one who embraces more the reality of that which espouses and produces actual and heavenly results?

Despondency, Tedium

Wow!  Am yet in bed, tired, weary, and and yet trying to pray for others.  A call came from one of the rather estranged adult children.  At first the hermit's voice betrayed its tearfulness--self-pity, surely, plus a bit of fear in letting go of emotional self-protection.  Yet, before long, the hermit was sharing and asking questions, even if not getting detailed responses.  The heart was loving, once again, from this heart to that one.  Love never really leaves, does it?

Then decided to read the next step in John Climacus' The Ladder of Divine Ascent.  He writes of despondency, which he also calls "tedium."  In a short rendering, the solitary hermit monk, John, clarifies and diagnoses exactly what is this nothing Catholic hermit's current aliment.  Despondency.

When time and again, am picking up the book to read another step or few pages within a step of the 6th century, holy man's guidance, the content addresses exactly what this Catholic hermit needs!  This is what occurs when we do not dismiss some nudge or a word, or name, or image that comes to us.  A couple or more weeks ago the name "John Climacus" popped into the mind.  After researching online, found the book he wrote in the 6th century or earliest years of 7th century.

From that point on, purchasing a used book on line,  St. John Climacus has entered Te Deum Hermitage and is a present help to this pathetic hermit herein.

Not everyone will benefit at any given time, to some book another is reading.  However, this book is worth reading for anyone who has not had an inner showing of what holy person or holy writing His Real Presence is choosing.  If nothing else has been shown or told you, in other words, The Ladder of Divine Ascent by John Climacus will prove worthy of your time and thought.

__________________

As to despondency, and overcoming it, it seems best to present some of Climacus' points.

Despondency or tedium of the spirit...is a paralysis of the soul, a slackness of the mind, a neglect of religious exercises, a hostility to vows taken.  It is an approval of worldly things.  It is a voice claiming God has no mercy and no love for men.  It is a laziness in the singing of the Psalms, a weakness in prayer, a stubborn urge for service, a dedication to the work of the hands, an indifference to the requirement of obedience.  

Tedium is rebuffed by religious life, but it is the constant companion of the hermit, living with him until the day of his death, struggling with him until the very end.  She smiles at the hermit's cell and comes creeping up to live nearby.

Tedium loves to be involved in hospitality, urges the hermit to undertake manual labor so as to enable him to give alms, and exhorts us to visit the sick, even recalling the words of Jesus Who said, "I was sick, and you came to visit Me" (Matthew 25:36).  Tedium reminds those at prayer of some job to be done....She searches out any excuse to drag us from prayer....Tedium suggests we call upon the fainthearted and discouraged and sets one languishing to try to lift up the other....  

Tedium is a kind of total death for the monk....Tedium is one of the eight deadly vices, and indeed the gravest of them all.  ...nothing gains as many crowns for the monk as the struggle against this.

We have a good idea of how despondency, or tedium, immobilizes us.  Next, John Climacus sets out how to conquer this vice.  Snippets are offered here, to aid us in overcoming this horrible ailment!

This tyrant [despondency, tedium] should be overcome by the remembrance of past sins, battered by hard manual labor, and brought to book by the thought of the blessings to come.  

Tedium's modus operandi (Climacus calls it tedium's many mothers), are as follows:

• Stolidity of Soul
• Forgetfulness of the Things of Heaven, or
• Too Heavy a Burden of Troubles
• Changing from Place to Place
• Disobedience of One's Superior
• Forgetfulness of the Judgment to Come, and
• Sometimes the Abandonment of One's Vocation   

Again, the enemies to despondency or tedium are singing of Psalms, manual labor, thought of death, and particularly, prayer backed by hope in the blessings to come later.  Climacus adds, to ask despondency or tedium:  "Who gave birth to prayer?"  For, the reminder that God is the source and substance of prayer, is a powerful weapon against a stolid or languishing, unanimated, soul.

______________________________

In this selection, this Catholic hermit sees itself, specifically, in many points.  The lack of hope, the inability to rise from bed and return to manual labor, the lapsing from praying the Psalms (yes, so soon after returning to them and doing so well!), and too heavy a burden of troubles.  Why, the hermit was even considering that perhaps it had no vocation at all, and perhaps this solitary path and the hardships of current existence, are a ruse.  Perhaps the hermit could grab back its life of the old way, of the world, in which the distractions helped pass the time and bring a forgetfulness of the narrow way and the spiritual climb.

But no, this man who achieved great holiness in his earthly life and who followed the path of Jesus Christ in detail and profound humility, is guiding this nothing Catholic hermit through his writings, and he has nailed it--nailed it!--right down to the cross upon which this hermit has been struggling.  And the struggle has been nearly motionless, inert, and despairing at times, and that because hope had been overcome by troubles, and the spiritual practices had been ignored due to the sirens of attending to other matters, other distractions, even if at the time they seemed important.

While there is too much to The Ladder of Divine Ascent to share specifically, this nothing Catholic hermit recommends to you readers, that if His Real Presence places a spark of interest in your hearts and minds, order it online, either new or used, from Amazon.com or Abebooks or some other bookseller.  Some libraries might even have a copy in storage! Let John Climacus guide, if His Real Presence so desires him to be of assistance to you as he is to this nothing hermit.  If not now, perhaps another time, the name John Climacus and his book may come to your mind as it did here, recently.

Note:  There are two publications.  One is The Classics of Western Spirituality, Paulist Press, with excellent introduction by Bishop Kallistos Ware.  The other publication is more costly, but some prefer the translation; it is published by The Holy Transfiguration Monastery.  The Paulist Press edition is what this hermit is reading, as well as an 87-year-old spiritual friend.  Each of us is having no difficulty understanding, and both are benefiting greatly.

Difference Between Theologians and Those Who Mourn

St. John Climacus offers wise insights and Scriptural guidance in climbing the holy mountain.

He writes thoroughly and in balance, upon the topic of mourning as a gift from God.  There are levels of mourning, but a beautiful aspect of tears is when the soul grows tearful and weeps without having purposefully tried to weep.  The tears bring added tenderness to the soul; they wash away our sins.  Praise His Real Presence for these tears!

On theology and mourning, Climacus notes they do not go together.  They weaken each other in any attempt to unite the two.

The difference between a theologian and a mourner is that the one sits on a professorial chair while the other passes his days in rags on a dungheap.  

This is truth.  Thinking with the head and thinking with the heart are two differing processes, two ways of thoughts.

True compunction is pain of soul without any distraction.  It offers itself no rest and thinks hourly of death.  It stands in wait of the God Who brings comfort, like cool water, to humble [souls].  And those gifted with the heart's depth of mourning regard their lives as detestable, painful, and wearying, as a cause of tears and suffering, and they turn away from their body as from an enemy.

Tears arrive with varying ways.  Consider what brings on our tears in different situations.  They come from troubles of earth, troubles of body, troubles of mind, troubles of soul.  The ones that come from the realization that we all must die tend to be the tears without guile.  They are more pure; they bring the greater glory of God and thus more relief and joy.

In your heart be like an emperor, seated high in humility, commanding laughter:  "Go!" and it goes; sweet weeping:  "Come!" and it comes; and our tyrant and slave, the body: "Do this!" and it does it.

The man wearing blessed, God-given mourning like a wedding garment gets to know the spiritual laughter of the soul.

_____________________

There have been tears here this morning, in Te Deum Hermitage.  From whence do they come?  Well, all tears come from God because He creates our bodies, minds, hearts, and souls.  Can the devil initiate tears?  One wonders.  But rather, turn thoughts to His Real Presence, for He allows all for our good.  When we do consider the source of our tears, we can learn to alter the course of their flow.

Tears here from this hermit's body are of pain and sorrow, of a helplessness and hopelessness of circumstances.  They are embellished by some memories as well as some darkness of the environment.  Intermingled with the more temporal source of the tears, is the recognition of this hermit's failings and definitely of its approaching death.  Thus sorrow for its sins enter into the waters, and the tears become a wonderment of God being the soul's sole provider and King.

A Thanksgiving Day phone call to an elderly aunt who sent a Thanksgiving note and a little monetary help....  She had written to remind:  Count our blessings.  When the aunt answered her phone, she admitted she has been depressed due to weakening eyes and other ails, and facing giving up her car.  She has to adapt to a nursing facility in which most of the other residents do not have as clear minds nor desire stimulating conversations of some substance.  She admits she must try to do what she can to rise beyond these facts of life.  "It is as it is," we each concluded to our individual situations.

The hermit mentioned to her the aspect of not being able to get the hermitage more livable.  By now, it is obvious that there is no point in trying to hire workers from this area, for the hermit has been repeatedly financially raped and lied to in the past 20 months or more.  The aunt knows this, too, and agrees.  We accept.  She wishes there would be at least a plumber to help, but no, not one, not yet.  The birds get in, probably through a rotted fascia board not replaced when the men put on a new roof.  The hermit opens a window and tries to guide them out with the end of a broom motioning the way.

The rats have not been back in for awhile, but they are decomposing under the house.  There is no one to help.  But, the aunt mentions surely this hermit will be having a Thanksgiving meal with the daughter and her family?  No, all the adult children and their families, in various parts of the country, are flying to their father and his wife's lovely home overlooking a golf course, in yet another state.

The aunt was stunned.  This hermit mentioned reading in a spiritual book [The Ladder of Divine Ascent] that to hold on to past hurts is to keep malice in and be chained to bitterness.  Just because family and friends have lived through with the hermit, the past years of abuse from the marriage and divorce, and the tough times rearing the children and putting much into that good, does not mean that we all should think that others do not have a right to do as they wish.  Yet, the reality now is stark.

So these tears this morning have been a mix of the very base roots of physical pain (my, how the body aches with pain!), plus some reminders of past wounds (valid enough), plus then thoughts of this hermit's sins as well as how sin causes divisions (even if we did not perpetrate the particular sins that caused the division), as well as thoughts on hope and hopelessness, helplessness and dependency on God, and finally, that death is a purposeful reality.

The hermit made another phone call to a woman who had sent a note a week ago...a lovely note!  It knew the woman and her husband would be at their adult children's for this Thanksgiving Day, but it wanted to wish them a happy day as well as say thanks for the kind note.  The hermit's voice began to crack with weeping; and those tears, left as a message for them later, came from the source of love of this friend and the fondness of her goodness.

It is time to attempt dressing and doing a bit of manual labor, but if tears continue to flow--and they can be interior tears that do not fill the eyes or wet the cheeks--they are yet tears.  The mind and will can pray that the tears increasingly fill all tributaries emptying into the river and then to the sea, as tears graduating from the lower sources to the holy tears of God as Source.  

Weep for the love of God and recognition of our lowliness, and weep that we are aliens in a  strange land, that we are not yet there but are making progress.  To weep with all aspects of body, mind, heart and soul, is to weep in humility, as one in rags on the dungheap.  This is mourning that transcends knowledge or thinking with the head.  These tears mix with His Tears and flow into eternity as one whose tears will become joyful laughter.

God bless His Real Presence in us!  Little children, let us love one another!  God Is Love!  Remain in His Love!

More on Renunciation

Yesterday managed to drive the distance into civilization to watch grandson give a science presentation.  The adult daughter discussed options to this situation here, with the latest obstacles and hardships.  The hermit explained how difficult, yet must trust in God and also, somehow, to trust the wisdom and guidance of this 6th century hermit solitary whose name somehow came to mind a few weeks ago, and whose book seems to be helping with the spiritual unraveling of events and explanation of what this hermit is experiencing.

As for renunciation of the world, which is necessary for at least some hermits who aspire to union with God (as Jesus and others have taught and lived), John Climacus makes the point that it is not a renunciation of the world due to the passions or of running away from it, but rather it is the desire to come closer to God in order to love more and attain life within His Real Presence to an ultimate degree.

And that, however, requires the death of the passions, which includes anger and frustration, pride, and various other aspects of the thoughts and emotions that can trip us and entangle us in the renunciation process.  Yet, the world and its increasing obstacles and pitting the soul with roadblocks of complexities, memories, desires of comfort, status or whatever all else--contains with it embers of growing disgust which does help the solitary hermit or any with spiritual aspirations of desiring God.   The reality of the hot embers will assist the hermit in  renouncing or dousing them.  The soul then can better develop an unhindered desire and will to go toward the object of its heart's and soul's desiring:  His Real Presence--Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

...our act of renunciation is not for empty honor.  Exile is a separation from everything, in order that one may hold on totally to God.  It is a chosen route of great grief.  An exile is a fugitive, running from all....  Do not wait for souls enamored of the world when you are pressing on towards solitude and exile....Anyone telling you he can combine these yearnings [even of family, of the world] is deceiving himself.  "No one can serve two masters" [Matt. 6:24].

The words, the guidance, at times seems painfully harsh, even wrong.  Yet, we cannot deny the very life of Jesus and how He lived on earth any more than we can deny the holy souls that the Church has canonized over the centuries, whose lives were lived to a certain ideal, no matter the difficult deaths involved along the way.  [Am not referring to physical death of the earthly body, but of the many mental, emotional, and spiritual types of dying that occur in increasingly painful aspects.  Rather, the deaths are of the soul being purified and emptied in order to come to conformity of love in spiritual perfection, union with Christ and in His will, not that of our own.]

When a man has renounced the world and still returns to its affairs or draws near to it, he will either fall into its snares or will defile his heart with thoughts of it.  These are strong and difficult words to most of us.  Yet Climacus also adds that even if a person becomes uncorrupted, if he begins to hold contempt for others who are corrupted by the world, then he will join them in their corruption.

In the spiritual ascent, there is no room for pride or self-righteousness, nor for judging others who are not on the same path or who are called to some other level or pace of climbing the holy mountain.  At least that is what this nothing Catholic hermit concludes from the reading and praying thus far, and the living of life.  

Climacus also gives sound advice on getting caught up in dreams.  He recommends not paying much attention to those especially that leave a person in despair or conversely in some kind of pride.  It is important, or so this nothing Catholic hermit has concluded in its 63 years on earth and many dreams, that the discernment of spirits and of the effect of dreams, is rather a critical skill to learn.  Climacus mentions dreams that lead to fantasizing, and those are easy enough to pick off--if we are honest with ourselves.

As for this hermit's own dreams, such as the one in which Jesus told it He was very pleased when the hermit, over 19 years ago asked if it was truly God's will that it become a Catholic.  Had the hermit dismissed that dream and locution, it would not have converted to Catholicism.  The dream gave the hermit courage to follow through with being confirmed in the Church, even though the actual suffering and sorrows of its life have multiplied many times over as a result of that conversion.

An example of a dream that can lead to fantasizing, is one this hermit had a couple nights ago.  It dreamed it had won the lottery, and a huge amount, at that!  The dream was so real that upon waking, the hermit was working out in its mind (fantasizing), who it could possibly trust to help it deal with so much money.  What financial person, what attorney?  It decided upon two trusted ones, and then considered how it could have some kind of outreach to help the world with the funds.  

Soon it was thinking what a cross to bear, and how many people would misuse the funds, or those people who had not been loyal would be considering themselves as good friends to the hermit, after all!  But mostly, the hermit considered being able to walk away from this hermitage, and to hire someone to finish it and donate it to a single mother or to some group so it could be a hermitage experience if anyone wanted. 

Another night the hermit had a dream of looking at a house, dated but yet livable, with the thought of purchasing and moving there.  It was not a house it had seen in this life, but in the dream there were some drawbacks in practical ways, but the hermit was wanting to just have a place that is neat, clean and functional.  Then it realized it did not have any means to buy it or to move there.  A person from the hermit's past who has a husband and has financial security, popped into the dream and was making herself very confident and rather triumphant that they were going to buy the house, and even mentioned some famous, wealthy person who owned the house next to it!

So, we see how such dreams as these reflect the hermit's current weariness and desire to flee temporal hardship as well as the dying it is facing on many levels.  See how the fantasizing can enter in?  All the same, when the hermit noticed in civilization that a lottery amount was over the high amount in the one dream, it--God forgive and have mercy!--purchased a ticket!  This nothing Catholic hermit is not nearly ready to renounce the world, at least not nearly to the degree necessary for holiness!

One must keep a sense of humor and be without guile in admitting its weaknesses.  Yes, perhaps this hermit has not the will nor the desire enough to rise into greater death in order to be brought through the mourning into the laughter of the heart.  But, it will still pray for such desire and strength of will.  As the hermit mentioned to the adult daughter, it does take much faith and trust in what holy people have written and what Jesus says in Scriptures, to let go of what the world tells us.  That can include the Christian world which in certain mindsets, highlights the softer and easier parts of Jesus' teachings and life.  His mercy and love are truth, but the reality of unrepentant sin and its consequences are truth, as well.

And, as to another note on dreams, had the hermit not dismissed some of them, it would not have ended up in such a terrible location with the previous neighbors of which the hermit was warned in a dream, the night before the house foundation was to be laid.  Could have gotten out of that one!  Yet, more often than not, the warnings at other times have come more after the fact.  It is more as if the Lord allows the rose-colored glasses to remain long enough to get the hermit to where He wills it, even though it is going to mean much suffering.  But He has the hermit planted in its new place of assignment for prayer and some soul or other to be helped before the hermit realizes the cost; otherwise the hermit would be like Jonah and try avoiding Ninevah....

Enough of all this.  There is more to share of John Climacus' guidance which always flows from and adheres to Scripture.  There is good to share about why ponder death and how that will help the soul to not sin as much.  There is good to share about mourning and tears.   There is good to share about the differing paths of the theologian compared to the hermit.

God bless His Real Presence in us!  Little children, let us love one another and remain in His Love!

[Note:  This laptop has yet again had its same old issues, and for the fourth time is going into repair.  It is allowed and willed by God--yes such a detail in the temporal for God is in all details--and probably good for this hermit to have a break from as much internet or writing.  Will attempt writing on an iPad.  Yes, at some point, will the good Lord help this hermit all the more detach from words?]

A Cancer?

A friend emailed, stating that another online blogger is "a cancer" to this nothing Catholic hermit.  Others have noted the differing styles of writing, the differing paths in the hermit vocation, and they are angered by many of the suggestions made, the slights, the insults, the negative inferences toward their friend.  They come up with reasons why this person would behave in such manner, none too positive.

Of course, the hermit's friends want others to see this nothing hermit as they do, knowing it as they perceive it.  But their perceptions, even if personal knowledge over years, can be skewed.  There is nothing quite like having a persistent critic, for otherwise a hermit (or anyone) can feel just too fine and dandy about itself.

However, the nothing hermit responded to the friend's comment that the other person is a cancer, not doing any good.  But nothing Catholic hermit has come to love this other person, for it has come to grasp how beneficial to be put down, defiled, defamed, de-whatever'd.  Rather, this hermit is the cancer to that other one.  Why and how?

Well, this hermit has obviously gotten under the skin of the other to the point of causing frustration, irritation, repetitive refuting.  Someone even commented the other wrote about wanting to physically shake this nothing Catholic hermit, not that there is much of worth or substance to shake.

Nothing Catholic hermit explained the love it holds for this other person, for if nothing negative about the nothing hermit is written, implied, inferred--there would not be the examination of conscience nor the self-questioning, nor the opportunity to experience what Christ and all the spiritual masters of the past centuries say is a blessing, a means of spiritual growth.

In fact, in yet another step described by John Climacus in The Ladder of Divine Ascent, a positive function of hermits or religious living among one another, such as in a monastery, or those who live with two or three others, is that of providing insults, slights, challenges, trials, and confrontation to one they find irritating for whatever reason.

In this nothing Catholic hermit's case, the Lord has called this hermit, for now, upon a path of intense solitude and silence.  The days can be met with tremendous trials of utmost frustration, of temptations to hopelessness, of feelings of being repeatedly raped by those in the world who have taken advantage financially and in working situations.  In such conditions, also, if all went well, the mind would turn toward pride and feelings that it had somehow achieved some level of goodness or holiness.  

There is no one physically here in Te Deum Hermitage to provide the criticism that can be of such benefit!  There is no one physically here to deride and doubt this nothing Catholic hermit's vocation, or mental status, or pain level, or spiritual experiences, or sinfulness.  So, having another, from a distance, provide the criticisms, doubts and questioning, is just what this nothing Catholic hermit needs!

That is why it is so thankful and blessed, and feels the criticisms well-deserved.  For one thing, this nothing hermit expresses its life in candor, as a type of case-study, a chronicle of its life as a consecrated Catholic religious eremitic.  Sometimes, the life chronicle can be filled with current despairs, or demonic trickery and assaults, or consolations, or self-doubts, or spiritual gifts, or exultations of love of His Real Presence.

The review and criticism by another is a welcomed asset in the hermit's spiritual life.  For another thing, it assists with humility and the reality that a hermit ought never be assured of its being secure on the narrow path, or on the narrow path at all.  

Consecrated eremiticism is a vocation of unique and individualized training and leading by His Real Presence; and perhaps the best one can do is to expect the unexpected, and that includes suffering as well as all the trials that the books of the hermit saints of yore have written and left for us as helps along the way.  

Yes, by these classic writings of those holy by learned, wise, and earned experience, we can better identify that we are not experiencing anything worse or different or better than any other who God has called to the solitary life of praise, prayer, and penance, in deep and abiding love of Him and all His creation.

That this nothing Catholic hermit is the awful cancer to the other, is yet another indication of how dreadfully this nothing presents its thoughts and experiences.  It is true that the writing in this blog leaves much to be desired, and it pales to others' writing, and especially to others' virtuous and vocational lives.  But that is all part of the journey, for this hermit here, who feels sorry that it has become a cancer to the other, as it has been a cancer to people of the past--evidently an annoyance to priests, parishioners, family members, friends, and strangers!

The nothing Catholic hermit never intends to be a cancer, nor to get under the skin of others, and does not realize its cancerous effect until pointed out by others, or is told by the persons themselves sickened by this nothing Catholic hermit.  

However, all that can be offered is an apology, but also a debt of gratitude, for without others despising and trying to correct by criticism or any other means, this nothing Catholic hermit's flaws, a major element of spiritual growth would be lacking.

In the next step that John Climacus describes on the ladder to holiness, that of realizing and accepting that one deserves all the ill will and trials it receives, is explained as a necessary good.  Love can seem tough; love can seem as if it hurts.  


Those who feel called to chastise, question, and criticize others are sincerely fulfilling their good work of providing a form of chemotherapy on the likes of this (or any) cancerous, nothing Catholic hermit.

God bless His Real Presence in us!  Little children, let us love one another and remain in His Love! 

Guidance from a Solitary Hermit and Bits on Exile

In reading more of John Climacus' The Ladder of Divine Ascent, this hermit is blessed with pertinent guidance in daily life here in the hermitage.

Returned from two days in civilization (all went well, allowing love to take over).  Learned that the one remaining family unit, although they live a distance already, may be moving.  This possibility reminds this hermit that the temporal passes easily, and the Lord allows changes which are all very good for those seeking Him in each detail.

John Climacus (6th c. solitary hermit) describes three levels or types of religious.  The first are those who live among many others, such as in a monastery.  (In our current times, this could include hermits who are more interactive in parishes, work in public jobs, and are generally known in and for their hermit vocations.)

The second are those who live with two or three others who are seeking God in a more focused, spiritual solitude.  (Today, this could include those who live together in a house, or in a small monastery with laura-type apartments or individual cabins.)

The third type or way is a hermit who is more isolated from others, and experiences vast amounts of silence and stillness.  Climacus himself was of this way of eremitic existence, and describes such a hermit as a solitary, one who lives alone, not with others. (Such a hermit in current times would embrace a more austere existence, face rigorous physical and spiritual trials, yielding growth, but who also may be more criticized by others in a world of increased and rapid communication, technology, and value placed in material and action-oriented success.)

Climacus ascribes the term hesychia to one who does not approach this third level of solitude but is more of the first two types.  He terms as a "solitary" or a "hermit", one who is of the third type--very much immersed in solitude and stillness to a higher degree than the other two categories.

_______________________
  

Climacus devotes the third step of the divine ascent to emphasizing the point and value of exile.  The solitary hermit must enter into this mode which Climacus describes as an irrevocable renunciation of all to which one has become comfortable, attached, used to, in one's familiar surroundings...and which hinders the soul from the ideal of holiness.  

Climacus is not one for extremism.  Although to some, including perhaps the first type of religious who lives among many people and interacts more frequently with what is familiar and in the world, if even the world of the church or monastery, his thoughts on exile might seem extreme. They are not, however, at least not to the degree of following Christ to which a solitary hermit type desires, and to that of union with God.  Climacus wisely states, though, that not every form of exile is good if taken to extremes in ways that are not led by God or without discretion.

The description of exile:  a separation from everything in order that one may hold on totally to God.  It is a chosen route of great grief.  An exile is a fugitive, running from all relationships with his own relatives and with strangers.  

Advice for the hermit solitary who desires the ideal comes, but he describes the traits of God's grace that come through the effort:  a disciplined heart, unheralded wisdom, an unpublicized understanding, a hidden life, masked ideals....

[Exile] is unseen meditation, the striving to be humble, a wish for poverty, longing for what is divine.  It is an outpouring of love, a denial of vainglory, a depth in silence.

As for advice to those who take the narrow path of exile:  Do not wait for souls [who are] enamored with the world when you are pressing on towards solitude and exile.  In any case, death [to self, to the world] comes when least expected.  Many set themselves the aim of rescuing the indifferent and the lazy--and end up lost themselves....Not all of us are summoned to rescue others.

And this, on detachment:  Detachment is good and its mother is exile.  Someone withdrawing from the world for the sake of the Lord is no longer attached to possessions that he should not be deceived by the passions.  If you have left the world, then do not begin to reach out for it.  Otherwise your passions will come back to you....

A true exile, despite his possession of knowledge, sits like someone of foreign speech among men of other tongues.

This gives a glimpse of but one small section of the thirty "rungs" or steps of the ladder to God.

What it evokes for this hermit is much assistance in what is currently being experienced in daily life.  It is not the withdrawal from relationships, as that has occurred quite naturally and without this hermit having to do the parting.  It is more the additional descriptions of the most solitary of the types of hermits, which are so very helpful. 

Climacus describes the throes of adaptation, quite aptly!  He writes of the pitfalls, of God allowing the devil to try to draw the soul back out into more active duty among men, even of the good works of active Christians, and appeals to pride in souls that would have them think they are something rather than nothing.

________________


There is so much more, but just today, when very cold in here, the body did not want to get out of what warmth the bed and a small space heater provide.  Yet, the inner spirits began seeking distractions, and it began to ponder just how solitary is the solitary life, and even a dream had dangled financial aspects of the world in a fantasy way.  

This hermit was just about to think itself back into what-if's of life in the outer world, even of the good aspects of the temporal church. But the grass was too high, and the days are numbered for weather good enough to mow it.  Just then, in another section of his guide, Climacus mentioned that solitaries needed to have a pile of palms nearby so that they would fight off temptations in thought, by working in weaving mats.

Two-and-a-half hours later, the grass here was mowed, and a silent, solitary, but stilled and thought-stabilized hermit came back to the warmer room in the hermitage, and thanked God for John Climacus who is evidently accepting this hermit's request that he be the spiritual guide for now.

The book is so good, that when the hermit received a rare phone call this evening from a friend, John Climacus' writing became a topic.  The woman and her husband live the second type of religious that Climacus describes, although they have not taken vows other than as oblates.  But their life circumstances have them as two monks living apart from the world other than her work editing a religious, online publication.   

She mentioned how, with her husband ill much of the time, that the silence gets to her, so she wears a headset with ear buds so that she can listen to some news or other programs. Yes, she said the silence becomes too intense for her, day in and day out, even though her husband may be in the next room, sleeping.  

This hermit admitted that it is a process, the adaptation to some of the pulling away in order to draw toward His Real Presence in a depth we'd never thought, through a narrow gate of which we'd read in Scripture but not fathomed how narrow it can be in the unfolding of actuality.

She would like the book.  Am going to send a copy to her.  They both will find help in their daily lives and spiritual lives, for they are seeking the ideal of holiness, as well, even if not consecrated religious of the eremitic life.

This hermit here has so much to learn, and most of it by hard experience.  Praise His Real Presence!  God bless His Real Presence in us, and let us love one another, little children.  Remain in His Love!