I fear that i-Pods will do more damage to the soul of modern man than green house gas will ever do to the natural environment. The piped music of the i-Pod, which hammers at the brain incessantly, deadens the mind and shuts out the pain of much of the emptiness of modern life, is in fact a replacement for the elected silence in which we can discover God, reconnect with our own soul, find deep peace and be at one with our brothers and sisters in Christ. The dawn chorus, when I take the time to hear it, highlights for me the privilege and the exceptional nature of those who in fact value silence, stillness, are able to listen to nature and, ultimately, to God.
Living the eremitical life in splendid isolation has a deep attraction. Away from the noise and bustle of life the hermit can be alone with God and apart from the daily grind of human demands. However, choosing to live the eremitical life in a semi-detached seems to me all the more apposite for life today. The witness of one given to solitude, prayer and reflection in a housing estate says to all those who share that space with her, and to the wider world, that it is possible, even nowadays, to be still in the presence of noise, confusion and the rat race of modern existence. And while Belinda does not want to put a sign up which says that a hermit lives here, it is important that the value of her Christian witness is known and recognised.
The title of Hopkin’s poem The Habit of Perfection is deliberately ambiguous. The habit can be taken as an outward sign or as an inner attitude and way of life. In the simple lifestyle of a hermit living in the world, I believe it is both. The witness to simplicity does not need a recognizable habit to make its message known to our world. The simplicity itself is the habit. And the structured daily routine of prayerful, simple living is also habit forming, leading eventually to perfection. It reminds me of the words of Paul to the Corinthians; “My brothers and sisters never grow tired of doing what is right” and it is this constant battle with doing what we know we should be doing that leads ultimately to true holiness.
I love the Hopkin’s poem for purely personal reasons but also because, in a real sense, it gives the Rule of Life for eremitical living. Stillness. The eloquence of surrender. The double dark of shelled eyes which allows us to see uncreated light. The wine and the crust which make the fasts divine and Eucharistic. The love of nature, the feel-of-primrose hands, the feet that want the yield of plushy sward to lead down the golden street to the goal of all religious life where you unhouse yourself in order to house the Lord. And poverty, which is truly at the heart of a simple rule of life.
Belinda, this is a privileged moment for all of us who share this day with you. In the bustle and pressure of our busy, tension filled lives, we turn to you for the support of your prayers and the example of your life. Your commitment calls all of us to remember and foster the inner life which all of us have. You have the support of our prayers and our good will. May we, in turn, commend ourselves to your prayerfulness in the years ahead. Ad multos annos. |
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