The call of the hermit, of the solitary, is a call from and to Authenticity. How can you respond to the True God truly and truthfully? I know this all sounds like an academic question, or perhaps a niche topic for a bunch of cave-dwelling hermits. But I have come to believe this is the question facing all Christians. And the answer is authenticity.
There’s a report in New Scientist this week that neurologists may have found the location in our brains that is related to feelings of “transcendence”. Scientists have been looking for the “seat of religion” for years now, and the research just published may be the breakthrough they needed.
Here’s a poem offered as the closing prayer this past weekend for the Diocese of Iowa’s meeting of the Commission on Ministry. May it warm us all.
With certitude,
Simeon opened
ancient arms
to infant light.
In recent years there’s been a new sort of Christmas observance gaining popularity. Many Episcopal congregation and churches of other denominations will be holding “Longest Night” or “Blue Christmas” events tonight, the longest night of the year.
Grey drizzle for days. ~
Commute made tolerable ~
by egg nog latte.
They were flying right over the developed city of Atlanta, which is nevertheless still blessed with trees and some open land. No matter how congested the Atlanta traffic becomes, and no matter how frantic our daily human lives are at this time of year, the sandhill cranes are an annual prayer flag for me. God sends them fluttering southward in the wind. They are being led and piloted by a power that has existed long before I was born.
That same session, my director handed me a sheet of paper entitled “Ignatius’ 5 Step Daily Consciousness or ‘Awareness’ Examen.” “Pray these steps every night for the next month,” she said, “and write them down if writing makes you focus better.” This was a prescription for soul medicine, and, in my desperation, I saw it as a cure.
According to the secular calendar, Christmas is hard approaching; at least according to my local Mall. If you’re looking for a gift suggestion this year, you would do very well consider the new book by Episcopal Café contributor Vicki Black.
A well-planned rule of life can become the life-killing law that Paul warned about, a method of measuring our spiritual inadequacy when we fail to keep it perfectly (or worse, a source of smugness when we do). Sometimes we are not ready for change; we instead to stew awhile longer in our unhappiness in order to learn a lesson at a deeper level. Sometimes we can’t see what is best for ourselves, and so any plan we might come up with is worthless.