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August 2024
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The Hermit Community1/16/2024 Winter has arrived in the woodlands, and the silence settles around us. Sometimes, it is a comforting blanket, shielding us; other times, it crowds close, suffocating us. Today, I pause to reflect on the community that is formed in such places. In The Monastic Journey, Thomas Merton dwells on the monastic calling not, like many of us assume, as a call to reject society, but as a summons to enter it more fully. I guess this makes sense -- sometimes being apart draws us to contemplate that which we love, and in our separation, we recognize what makes loved beings, places, and things special. It magnifies the beauty, while gently blurring the lines of failure. This does not mean that we deny the realities of the world, but that we look past these, to celebrate what the world can be. I was surprised to learn that Merton considered the hermitic calling to be an extension of the monastic calling, kind of an ultimate call to community. Here, one loves and interacts with the world without coming into contact. The hermit embraces life, it seems, while no longer requiring a physical reference point. That would be an ultimate participation in the world -- an appreciation transcending the boundaries of space and time. The true hermit, then, is not a taciturn misfit who hates people. This person is, instead, one who has integrated fully with life itself -- one who loves completely and with an enduring love. I love the sound of that, but it is an ideal. We look out for each other here, and we love the tranquility of the snowy woods, but we are by no means of monastic or hermitic mindset. Now, we might see glimpses and flashes of monastic-like peace, but the realities of daily living are never far away. Today, a truck and trailer slid backwards down the big hill to rest sideways with the trailer pressing into the woods on one side, and the truck leaning into the ditch on the other. We sympathized with the driver while eagerly anticipating open roads and town amenities. On a more drastic note, there was a couple trying to reach a medical appointment. In such moments, we are very much world dwellers, driven not only by consumerism, but also by need. There are, however, the moments when any of us anywhere might have a flash of memory of a loved one, separated from us by distance and time, perhaps deceased. And in that instant, we experience an outpouring of love. I guess the ideal hermit would feel that way all the time, but for the rest of us, these moments are sweet intervals in our lives in the world. For me, it comes down to Anna Caine's discovery in The Ice Widow: "But your spirit is free upon the Land, and I will find you there. I will reach and find you from anywhere in the universe." (217) In all our separation, in all our longings in our journey, our connections, when they are strong, will transcend all. And that is more than enough for me.
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Maria Haka Flokos
1/17/2024 04:36:40 am
This resonates so much, the ideal appeals, yet it can never fully be experienced. Moments though remind us of its existence, these are the moments we touch our fingers with God, like in the Michaelangelo mural. And we need these so much...
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Anne M
1/19/2024 03:06:36 pm
Beautifully said, Maria! That image from Michelangelo's Creation is so powerful; we catch glimpses of such moments in contemplation, and they do uplift us. Many thanks for reading and sharing these thoughts.
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1/18/2024 07:01:23 pm
Lovely post, Anne; I enjoyed it! It makes perfect sense that in a rural, remote community, the connections with your neighbors, and often strangers who pass though the area, would necessarily be stronger than for those who live in more populated suburbs or cities.
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Anne
1/19/2024 03:11:49 pm
Thank you so much for reading, Kelly, and for sharing these thoughts. We really do, as you suggest, rely on one another out here, forming a loosely structured community that might dwell separately, but is always ready to help each other. It is a very good feeling.
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1/19/2024 10:57:16 am
Beautiful sentiments, Anne, so touching and true. I appreciate you putting such emotion and honesty into a profound post.
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Anne
1/19/2024 03:17:08 pm
Thank you, Sarah. I really appreciate you reading this blog and providing this reflection. Yes, there is so much to be learned from the natural setting, and perhaps through it, we can come to a richer appreciation of the people around us.
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1/19/2024 11:48:43 am
I found this article most comforting, especially your comments on Thomas Merton. You took me back in time to when I studied some of his works, and I have just ordered "No man is an Island". I have always thought hermits to be people who led lives of prayer and contemplation, but who also did some works in the community. I remember reading about when Glastonbury Abbey was sacked that Somerset became prone to floods again, as the wet lands and dykes had been maintained by the monks who were murdered. I do agree though that contemplative life is not for everyone. I think that we can all set aside some time for contemplation, and to find joy even in the loss of loved ones . It's like being re-united with the spirit. Your December letter put that so well, the difference between joy and happiness. Thank you again.
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Anne M.
1/19/2024 03:35:19 pm
Thank you for this rich reflection, Mary. There is indeed so much to learn from Thomas Merton's writings! Yes, there is a strong sense of service in the monastic calling, but the popular perception tends to dwell on the separation aspect. In the end, there really is no separation, for the contemplative embraces all there is, not just some of what is. Teilhard de Chardin, in his essay "The Mass on the World", experiences the rising of the sun as a cosmic enactment of the mass; that is another piece of writing you might want to investigate! It can be found in 'Hymn of the Universe'. Yes, to embrace loved ones across the boundaries of life and death, a reunion with spirit, would be a true joy!
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1/21/2024 12:34:28 pm
Thank you for the reference to Teilhard de Chardin. I will look him up as his "Hymn of the Universe" looks to to be inspiring reading for anyone saddened by what seems to be the return of the dark ages. Of course, everything we are concerned about now, the loss of God and freedom to speak, has all happened before. However, writers like Merton and De Chardin can comfort, counsel, and inspire us.
Anne M.
1/26/2024 11:24:12 am
That is so true, Mary. As I research movements of the spirit in the Middle Ages for my work in progress, I am reminded again how much our current upheavals fit the patterns of that time period. (By the way, my work in progress is set in the near future, but I do get ideas from history!) 2/21/2024 03:59:49 am
This blog definitely resonates with me. I have spent most of my summers, at least in part, in isolated cabins seeking the peaceful solitude of nature and lakes. My parents lived in one such place year round for several years, skiing or using a snow machine to go four miles to their car and then 20 miles to shop for basics.
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Anne M.
4/25/2024 08:07:33 am
That is a powerful life experience, and as you suggest, one that takes takes a special mindset. I like in particular the criterion of "a strong spiritual connection to the universe." To live in such a place, to find joy in such a place, is a special gift. I see well your own connection to the earth in your writings on the healing of the earth in your novels Spindrifts and Spelldrifts.
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