Are Hermits a Sign of Hope in this Time of Pandemic?

[[Sister Laurel, I bet you never saw it coming that hermits would be a sign of hope during a time or mandatory sheltering-in-place! Do you see yourself in this way?]]

Thanks for writing. Yes, you are certainly correct in your observation! Of course I am terribly sad that the situation the world finds itself in exists at all, but it is also true that the witness of hermits has a relevance which is more direct and vivid than ordinarily. As already noted, two or three weeks ago I was "interviewed" by a journalist, and while she asked several questions about eremitical life itself, what was eventually published was some of what I said about loneliness and dealing with loneliness. This simply had a greater relevance than would ordinarily be the case. Hermits deal with loneliness (though it is not something we feel all the time!) in two main senses: 1) simple loneliness, which occurs when one experiences something wonderful, beautiful, and/or inspiring and simply wishes to share that with someone. This form of loneliness is natural for every human being and points to the fact that we are made for love and are capable of loving God, ourselves, and others. We know we are made for love, and especially that we are made for God so loneliness as a natural dimension of our existence is not hard to understand.

The second form of loneliness, and one I think is far less common among hermits, is a more complicated or even "malignant" (my word) loneliness that points to forms of emptiness which are not simply natural. They stem from woundedness and the various failures people meet through their lives to be adequately loved and respected, nurtured and nourished. My impression is that folks ordinarily cover the pain of these kinds of wounds with all kinds of addictions and "isms": workaholism, shopaholism, alcoholism, drugs, sex, etc. But during a time of "lockdown" some of these "defenses" simply can't work and our woundedness is exposed and intensified. Sometimes it is simply that the things which allow us to feel successful or that give our lives meaning are taken from us, and the pain of woundedness may become clearer or more intense than usual. Enforced solitude is certainly a way of tearing the masks from our woundedness and while it may increase our more natural loneliness the real "problem" is the fact that it deprives us of some of the various ways we have covered over our profound woundedness.

Solitude, and especially eremitical solitude, requires we face ourselves. We do that in prayer, in spiritual direction, in lectio divina, in study, in recreation, and in our relationships with others. At the same time it allows us to seek, meet, and come to know and be known by the God who is Love-in-Act. In some ways both of these are necessary to truly come to know ourselves; if we know ourselves apart form the love of God, we are apt to have skewed senses of who we are --- either arrogant overestimations of our worth, or sad and shame-based senses of our inferiority and worthlessness.

Humility, a grounded form of loving honesty about ourselves and others, a form of honesty capable of seeing who we truly are and the dignity we truly possess as beloved of God is one of the fruits of eremitical solitude and the necessary work a hermit does in direction, etc. My main theology prof used to use the phrase, "when all the props are kicked out" in teaching about Paul's theology of the Cross. Physical solitude (and especially eremitical solitude) presents us with a situation in which "all the props are kicked out" and we can meet ourselves and God anew. Thus, in time it also provides the context in which we may be healed and made whole (holy) by the love of God. In other words, when all the props are kicked out, our God is there for us and our lives are truly meaningful. That is the nature of hope.

Of course I think hermits can say to folks --- not to worry, you can do this without becoming an alcoholic or lapsing into insanity! At the same time we have to say, "But remember, I can't do this without God and neither can you!! I can't do this without support from my pastor, spiritual director, and friends (emails are precious!) and neither can you get by without support!!!" Hope is the way we measure time in terms of futurity. Does our present see the inbreaking of real future/futurity or is it without this vision? What hermits say is that lives of eremitical solitude are shot through with a sense of real futurity, and therefore, with real hope. Our lives are not meaningless; indeed they are incredibly meaningful and full of joy. Every day brings new discoveries, about ourselves, our God, those we love, and the world around us; what we let go of in order to embrace eremitical solitude was and is indeed sacrificial, but what we have been given in place of that is beyond counting or telling.

Solitude is an opportunity to share in some of this in ways which are not as possible without solitude. Especially, learning to love ourselves as God loves us -- without masks, without props, is the one thing solitude gives us an opportunity for. How our world would change if we could each and all come to this new humility!!