Bug

The last three days were spent trying to recover from a virus with chills and heavy coughing and very sore throat. Finally coming out of it, and hope I never get hit again. Actually, since I have had all the COVID shots, the flu shot and the shingles shot, you would think I would be invulnerable, but think again. A senior person's immune system can be weak to begin with and the inoculation might not be as efficacious as it would be otherwise.

Thankfully, a couple aspirin helped a great deal, I curled up nice and snug in my bed for the duration of the fever. This morning's coffee and the aspirin have helped soothe my sore throat. 

I do remember one other time when I had such a spell, and that was during a visit to a monastery. 

Best wishes to everyone.

Bug

The last three days were spent trying to recover from a virus with chills and heavy coughing and very sore throat. Finally coming out of it, and hope I never get hit again. Actually, since I have had all the COVID shots, the flu shot and the shingles shot, you would think I would be invulnerable, but think again. A senior person's immune system can be weak to begin with and the inoculation might not be as efficacious as it would be otherwise.

Thankfully, a couple aspirin helped a great deal, I curled up nice and snug in my bed for the duration of the fever. This morning's coffee and the aspirin have helped soothe my sore throat. 

I do remember one other time when I had such a spell, and that was during a visit to a monastery. 

Best wishes to everyone.

Rest

The Lord can be found and life can blossom
in His presence.

I find the things I obsess about are usually irrelevant. It is a waste of time to worry so much about the things that trouble so.

If we are obsessed about something, the focus is usually on ourselves.If we are not focused on God, then we have wasted our time. Since He put us here to discover His immanence and to be immersed in Him as in the finest ointment or best vintage wine. But it isn't even about that. Being so concerned that we focus on ourselves means we are not focused on God and have wasted our time not using the gifts that reveal Him to people who are in love with Him.

Such love is hardly passive or to be found in frenzy. That is why He continually invites us to the Garden of His presence. The desert fathers were not focused on penance without good reason, nor were their exercises arbitrary and mindlessly mechanical. The love in them which urged them to be penitential was alive and real and active. That we participate in such moments must give us a clue to how important it is that He should invite us in the first place.

The contemplative consolations I received were deeper than awareness, and were full of refreshment and energy, so that whatever I did, was more meaningful than I realized. In the end, I was never denied consolation when it was needed, His consolation was a share of His love that was meant to enhance the spark of my life, and to produce from within me, a peace that produce rest for those who were willing to pray with me.

In another life, I might have been a parish priest whose love was the Mass and the Eucharist, forever giving thanks to God, and finding my life, rest and nourishment in Him. 

But I am a hermit who is hardly hidden away in a cave, but whose solitude is seldom interrupted by a visit from anyone.

The world can still make its presence felt whether I want it or not. The gifts God gives a hermit are nourishment of soul for other people, health, life and refreshment for busy lives by my presence in the world. Perhaps the world is starving for the love God puts in a hermit, perhaps that is why there are so many now, legitimate or spurious. By their fruits you will know them.

If in life, you discover a person who is spiritually like a spring of cool water, that person might be a hermit without knowing it. You might ask yourself if encounters with others were refreshing or nourishing, and if not, ask yourself where you were in that moment. A hermit strives to be always mindful of the Lord, and focused on Him without self concern. His presence where he is is no mistake and it was not coincidental, but part of the plan of God, who knows exactly where and exactly with whom you were. 

Being present to God in this world is difficult so long as we are self centered creatures. Eventually it is possible to be less self concerned and more eager to be in the presence of the Lord, because once we are no longer centered in His consolations, He certainly does make Himself known to a person He has called and consecrated. That consecration, by the way, produces a tendency to focus on God instead of self, for by our being focused on God we can change the world, however slightly, to be a better and more peaceful place. When there is resistance to a spiritual person on the part of others, whether religious or clerical, it is not of God, even though He can certainly use the friction for the sanctification of his soul. 

My advice is to not bother a hermit who seems legitimate on the basis of his demeanor. In all things, the just tend to want to heal and perfect others so they may enjoy the happiness of the Lord. To hinder that work is hardly bright.

Rest

The Lord can be found and life can blossom
in His presence.

I find the things I obsess about are usually irrelevant. It is a waste of time to worry so much about the things that trouble so.

If we are obsessed about something, the focus is usually on ourselves.If we are not focused on God, then we have wasted our time. Since He put us here to discover His immanence and to be immersed in Him as in the finest ointment or best vintage wine. But it isn't even about that. Being so concerned that we focus on ourselves means we are not focused on God and have wasted our time not using the gifts that reveal Him to people who are in love with Him.

Such love is hardly passive or to be found in frenzy. That is why He continually invites us to the Garden of His presence. The desert fathers were not focused on penance without good reason, nor were their exercises arbitrary and mindlessly mechanical. The love in them which urged them to be penitential was alive and real and active. That we participate in such moments must give us a clue to how important it is that He should invite us in the first place.

The contemplative consolations I received were deeper than awareness, and were full of refreshment and energy, so that whatever I did, was more meaningful than I realized. In the end, I was never denied consolation when it was needed, His consolation was a share of His love that was meant to enhance the spark of my life, and to produce from within me, a peace that produce rest for those who were willing to pray with me.

In another life, I might have been a parish priest whose love was the Mass and the Eucharist, forever giving thanks to God, and finding my life, rest and nourishment in Him. 

But I am a hermit who is hardly hidden away in a cave, but whose solitude is seldom interrupted by a visit from anyone.

The world can still make its presence felt whether I want it or not. The gifts God gives a hermit are nourishment of soul for other people, health, life and refreshment for busy lives by my presence in the world. Perhaps the world is starving for the love God puts in a hermit, perhaps that is why there are so many now, legitimate or spurious. By their fruits you will know them.

If in life, you discover a person who is spiritually like a spring of cool water, that person might be a hermit without knowing it. You might ask yourself if encounters with others were refreshing or nourishing, and if not, ask yourself where you were in that moment. A hermit strives to be always mindful of the Lord, and focused on Him without self concern. His presence where he is is no mistake and it was not coincidental, but part of the plan of God, who knows exactly where and exactly with whom you were. 

Being present to God in this world is difficult so long as we are self centered creatures. Eventually it is possible to be less self concerned and more eager to be in the presence of the Lord, because once we are no longer centered in His consolations, He certainly does make Himself known to a person He has called and consecrated. That consecration, by the way, produces a tendency to focus on God instead of self, for by our being focused on God we can change the world, however slightly, to be a better and more peaceful place. When there is resistance to a spiritual person on the part of others, whether religious or clerical, it is not of God, even though He can certainly use the friction for the sanctification of his soul. 

My advice is to not bother a hermit who seems legitimate on the basis of his demeanor. In all things, the just tend to want to heal and perfect others so they may enjoy the happiness of the Lord. To hinder that work is hardly bright.

Salutare

 Our love of God and the sweetness of His relationship is not measured by the sweetness of our consolations, but our acceptance of the unacceptable and unbearable. Nevertheless, we would not be human if we did not complain, or cry out once in a while for the pain we endure. 

If you complain, remember that He knew beforehand that we might complain; it does not indicate we are lost. He knows where we are and our condition, otherwise we would be overcome.

Peace be with you.

A Reflection from Youtube, the part time hermit

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Salutare

 Our love of God and the sweetness of His relationship is not measured by the sweetness of our consolations, but our acceptance of the unacceptable and unbearable. Nevertheless, we would not be human if we did not complain, or cry out once in a while for the pain we endure. 

If you complain, remember that He knew beforehand that we might complain; it does not indicate we are lost. He knows where we are and our condition, otherwise we would be overcome.

Peace be with you.

A Reflection from Youtube, the part time hermit

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Flitting

Swallowtail at rest amongst flowers.

It is really sad the way history repeats itself. The facts reveal themselves inexorably, and Donald Trump is being stripped and revealed for who he is, and in my mind, is not qualified to be the leader of our country.

Other people have been caught up in the vile things that have their hooks in Donald Trump, and they will pay the price for their association and collaboration. Adolph Hitler seized upon the methamphetimines of his time, in order to try to achieve super human power to control the world. He got the power he wanted, but was destroyed by it, and Donald Trump is also being destroyed in a similar way. For all we know, perhaps Vladimir Putin is too. None of them realize who they are, and it is not fame that engulfs them, but infamy.

To be someone totally driven by ego and drugs and paranoia is sad to say the least, but even worse, they are being led by others on whom they are totally dependent.

The bottom line is that we do not need or want such people leading our country. We are still great. Our nation has not dissolved into chaos the way so many third world countries have. We can still provide example and leadership for the world, and correct our errors along the way, by working and thinking together, but we can't do it by promoting promiscuity, immorality and selfish greed for power. 

God gave us what greatness we have preserved, but we preserved nothing on our own; GOD is the one whose plan included us and we are who we are today because of our good and bad choices in life.

Nations cannot engage in the immorality destroying so many young lives without stumbling and bad judgement, killing the unborn as an inconvenience in our modern life. He will not bless or tolerate our weaknesses if we are prejudiced and seeking to use power against the poor and disadvantaged. Such behaviour will be punished; He will allow us to do what we want rather than hinting that we should do differently. 

Lent is soon upon us. Use the time to reflect who Jesus was, how He acted, and the things He did. Discern how we have allowed ourselves to be shaped by evil, and how to correct our errors. 

The mystical spiritual world is very real, but we scarcely notice it unless we have strained and worked hard to learn to see Him in our will and mind, so as to do the things that make a person sensitive to God.

That sensitivity is hard to see, like a butterfly flitting from tree to tree  in the wind. Taking a good photograph of a butterfly requires patience and wits to anticipate where it will go next and when it will launch itself into the breeze again. They know when the flowers they visit, have nectar or are emptied of it already and ready to shrivel and fall.

Our life with Jesus requires thoughtfulness and patience. We think so often that we are forming our life by our own efforts, and can hardly control our feelings and desires, and all too often, sin when we thought we were going to do some good thing. He allows us to stumble and fall so we learn. As long as we keep on moving, we are alright. He guides our steps gives us confidence by revealing Himself to us bit by bit, until we begin to live in His proximity and to be glad for being by His side.

In order to reflect sufficiently, a person needs peace and quiet, to be still, and to listen to our heart. That means turning things off, praying and listening within ourselves, skills acquired slowly over time. We will not achieve any progress without silent stillness in our lives that occur regularly, and turning our to Him to listen and try very hard to catch every word and every intonation of every word.

We can build a peaceful world by persevering and making wise decisions.