Posted on by Kurt Bodling

paradise and solitude

“Modern studies of the Fathers have revealed beyond question that one of the main motives that impelled men to embrace the ‘angelic life’ (bios angelikos) of solitude and poverty in the desert was precisely the hope that by so doing they might return to paradise.

“Now this concept must be properly and accurately understood. Paradise is not ‘heaven.’ Paradise is a state, or indeed a place, on earth. Paradise belongs more properly to the present than to the future life. In some sense it belongs to both. It is the state in which man was originally created to live on earth. It is also conceived as a kind of antechamber to heaven after death–as for instance at the end of Dante’s Purgatorio. Christ, dying on the cross, said to the good thief at His side: ‘This day thou shalt be with me in Paradise,’ and it was clear that this did not mean, and could not have meant, heaven.” (p. 53)

Merton, Thomas. “The Recovery of Paradise.” (1959) in Selected Essays. Edited with an introduction by Patrick F. O’Connell. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2013.

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pairs of hermits

“A form of eremitical life which has already been alluded to is that lived by married persons. From a certain point of view, married hermits are a contradiction in terms. But for those who are called, it proves to be a rich development of a shared life already sacramentally blessed. If both spouses are drawn to silence and solitude, they can live together peacefully, respectful of each other’s space and rhythm. If only one spouse is attracted to eremitical life, the other can provide the practical support which frees their partner to devote more time to prayer and solitary pursuits.”

Paul A. Fredette and Karen Karper Fredette. Consider the Ravens : On Contemporary Hermit Life. Bloomington, IN : iUniverse, 2011, page 168.

Posted on by Kurt Bodling

the Bible in solitude

“The Psalms are the true garden of the solitary and the Scriptures are his Paradise. They reveal their secrets to him because, in his extreme poverty and humility, he has nothing else to live by except their fruits. For the true solitary the reading of Scripture ceases to be an ‘exercise’ among other exercises, a means of ‘cultivating’ the intellect or ‘the spiritual life’ or ‘appreciating the liturgy.’ To those who read Scripture in an academic or aesthetic or merely devotional way the Bible indeed offers pleasant refreshment and profitable thoughts. But to learn the inner secrets of the Scriptures we must make them our true daily bread, find God in them when we are in greatest need–and usually when we can find Him nowhere else and have nowhere else to look!” (Merton, Thomas. Thoughts in Solitude. NY: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. 1958. (pbk ed 1999), pp. 126-127)

Merton tells us that reading God’s Word changes from a work we do and becomes a refreshment God does for us as we go deeper into solitude. Without other voices telling us “Look, here is Christ” or “There he is” we can become more comfortable and familiar with God through the Bible than before.

Posted on by Kurt Bodling

becoming a solitary

“To love solitude and to seek it does not mean constantly travelling from one geographical possibility to another. A man becomes a solitary at the moment when, no matter what may be his external surroundings, he is suddenly aware of his own inalienable solitude and sees that he will never be anything but solitary. From that moment, solitude is not potential–it is actual.”

Merton, Thomas. Thoughts in Solitude. NY: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. 1958. (pbk ed 1999), page 77.

Posted on by Kurt Bodling

writing, thinking, and contemplation

Note:
This author is a professor at Northeastern university. And he is definitely not writing here in a Christian or spiritual context. But I’m struck, as you probably are, how when he writes about the conditions he sets himself to improve his writing it sounds as if he is writing about conditions conducive to contemplation.

Quote:
“To avoid the easiest, most comfortable narrative of the moment, I have learned that writing … demands a special discipline.

“It requires clearing away competing noise, reserving time for deep reading and critical reflection, seeking solitude away from the constant churn of today’s argument-fueled culture.

“It requires a writer to quiet the mind, and to stop thinking about possible criticism or praise for what they write. ….

“The price of zipping around on the Web and social media is a loss in our depth of thinking, the essential trait of the intellectual and writer. …

“I choose to spend my days surrounded by the stillness of my office or within the sacred sanctuary of a library, no digital screen in sight, filling Moleskin notebooks with observations, engaged in the type of deep reading and immersion necessary to tie together insights and arguments into a fresh web of analysis.”

Source: ‘The Mindful Climate Change Writer’ by Matthew Nisbet, PhD viewed online at
https://medium.com/wealth-of-ideas/the-mindful-climate-change-writer-102ad432b283

Posted on by Kurt Bodling

living in inner solitude

Note:
Living as a hermit but in the world is not impossible. One can live in the hermit’s cell within. John Michael Talbot catches the way this can work for those of us whose station in life requires us to be ‘out and about.’ We can still live the hermit’s spiritual life of reclusion. He calls this being a semi-hermit.

Quote:
“So how does semi-eremitism apply to you? In more ways than you might think.

“On a weekly basis you might go to church only on Sundays and holy days. At the very most you might have one other day or evening dedicated to the work of the church. But all through the rest of the week you choose to find your own rhythm between solitude and communion in the family and the work place. You learn this from studying, praying, and practicing. You cultivate the hermit within. You meditate. You cultivate awareness of your relationship to God and all creation. You trust that you cannot  wrong. Your inner voice is the voice of the Holy Spirit.”  (pages 57-58)

Source: Talbot, John Michael. The World is My Cloister: Living From the Hermit Within. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2010.

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growth in solitude

Note:
The spiritual discipline of solitude is one that bears more fruit the longer one persists in it. (Probably all the disciplines are like that.) The myriad distractions that rise up at first, slowly fade away over time. That opens up more and more space for God’s voice.

Quote:
“Once we have committed ourselves to spending time in solitude, we develop an attentiveness to God’s voice in us. In the beginning, during the first days, weeks, or even months, we may have the feeling that we are simply wasting our time. Time in solitude may at first seem little more than a time in which we are bombarded by thousands of thoughts and feelings that emerge from hidden areas of our mind. … This is the experience of anyone who decides to enter into solitude after a life without much spiritual discipline. At first, the many distractions keep presenting themselves. Later, as they receive less and less attention, they slowly withdraw.” (p. 72-73)

Source: Nouwen, Henri J. M. Making All Things New: An invitation to the Spiritual Life. San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1981.

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holy mother Church

Note:
Bishop NT Wright (an Anglican) brings in John Calvin to support the thought that community is necessary for Christian life. Well, yes, but…. Wright here equates “a Christian” with “a newborn baby”. St. Paul, however, did speak of passing beyond childish things, and switching from spiritual milk to spiritual meat. Certainly in the beginning a convert needs the Church community as a baby needs direct, personal nurture. But later on, I believe that “community” can be understood in a more cosmic sense. It’s still there, the Church is, but may not have to be there in the form of the local congregation. Maybe the Church shows up for some people as “the whole Christian Church on earth.” Maybe the Church can show up as the “great cloud of witnesses” and the “whole host of Heaven.” At least for some Christians.

Quote:
“‘If God is our father, the church is our mother.’ The words are those of the Swiss Reformer John Calvin. Several biblical passages speak in this way (notably, Galatians 4.26-27, echoing Isaiah 54.1). They underline the fact that it is as impossible, unnecessary and undesirable to be a Christian all by yourself as it is to be a newborn baby all by yourself.” (p. 180)

Source: Wright, Tom. Simply Christian. London: SPCK, 2006.

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is solitude abnormal?

Note:
Solitude on any kind of long-term basis may well be abnormal (I didn’t say pathological!). Even religious hermits recognize that. But the fact of abnormality can just call into question what we are otherwise calling ‘normal’. Are the world’s usual ways of living really good? Just because they are the norm? Not necessarily. In this case, I would maintain that abnormal is good, and even better.

Quote:
“Of course, being by yourself is often very desirable. … Differences in temperament, upbringing, and other circumstances have a large part to play in this. But most people do not want complete, long-term solitariness. In fact, most people, even those who are naturally shy and introverted, do not normally choose to be alone all the time. Some do so for religious reasons, becoming hermits. Others do so to escape danger, as when a convicted criminal chooses solitary confinement rather than face prison violence. But even those who make such choices are usually conscious that this is abnormal.” (p. 26)

Source: Wright, Tom. Simply Christian. London: SPCK, 2006.

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silence isn’t empty

Note:
The spiritual discipline of silence is not an empty void. Emptiness like that could be viewed as a lack, a dearth, a gap, something missing. Spiritual silence, however, is richly full of the presence of God. In the Bible we read that Elijah seriously needed refreshment. He went off by himself (solitude!) and eventually heard the Lord speak to him in that “still small voice.”

Quote:
“At first the quiet may feel like just another place of emptiness. We may even feel a sense of dread or fear that we are going to be judged or punished for parts of ourselves we have now brought into the light of day.

“But if we stay in this moment, eventually — like Elijah — we begin to notice that this silence is qualitatively different from the emptiness we experienced before. The silence that comes after the chaos is pregnant with the presence of God.”  (p. 110)

Source: Barton, Ruth Haley. Invitation to Solitude and Silence: Experiencing God’s Transforming Presence. Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 2004.