✙ to what end, this hermit’s life?

So… why live a hermit’s life?

As I said on the previous page: as Christians we are all called to follow Christ and keep His commandments as much as we can. And God will call each and every one of us to the path and the vocation that at any one time is the most suitable for us within the context of His (+) plan. If and when we discern, accept, and answer that calling and sincerely try to live it, then each vocation - and in fact: each individual life - over time becomes its own specialisation in obtaining eternal life before God (+).

So, why live a hermit’s life? The honest and most simple answer to that question is God's calling, without running away from it (which, in my stupid and stubborn case, took the better part of 15 years).

But personally I think a more theoretical and theological comprehensive answer to why anyone should try to honestly live a life according to his or her personal calling in following Christ, might be this:

As the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) states in par. 405: “Baptism, (…) erases original sin and turns a man back toward God, but the consequences for nature, weakened and inclined to evil, persist in man and summon him to spiritual battle.”

This means that even though baptism can erase original sin, it cannot and will not restore in us the peace and grace of original holiness that Adam and Eve lost as a consequence of their fall from paradise (see CCC par. 399 - 404). Therefore, all of us (baptised or not) are still faced with an inevitable spiritual battle during our life here on earth. As Saint Thomas Aquinas phrased it: “[after baptism] there still remains the inclination to sin that assails us from within, and also the flesh and the devil which assail us from without”. These battles are forced upon us, whether we like it or not. But using our God-given free will, we can either decide to try and tackle them head-on, or run away.

Unfortunately, lacking clear and experienced real-life guidance, most of us end up doing a little bit of both and often end up mistakenly incorporating buddhist and other types of meditation or mindfulness techniques to our Christian spiritual armoury. Mistakenly, because the same - but God (+) centred and therefore more effective (and safer) - techniques have already existed as prayer methods both in the ancient Jewish and later Christian traditions from the very beginning. In the era of the Desert Fathers the general practice, intens study, and therefore the understanding and efficacy of these prayer techniques like Christian meditation, contemplation, and watchfulness reached its peak.

Since that era of the Desert Fathers these prayer techniques of Christian meditation, contemplation, and watchfulness slowly started to dilute and become less central. Therefore, these ancient prayer techniques were ever less practised, until they reached their current nadir within the mainstream churches of today. Nonetheless, traditional hermits (especially so within the orthodox tradition) have always remained predominantly focused on the original, undiluted, forms of these prayer techniques as practised by the Desert Fathers and Mothers.

 

"This means that even though baptism can erase original sin, it cannot and will not restore in us the peace and grace of original holiness that Adam and Eve lost as a consequence of their fall from paradise. Therefore, all of us (baptised or not) are still faced with an inevitable spiritual battle during our life here on earth. As Saint Thomas Aquinas phrased it: “[after baptism]there still remains the inclination to sin that assails us from within, and also the flesh and the devil which assail us from without”. These battles are forced upon us, whether we like it or not. But using our God-given free will, we can either decide to try and tackle them head-on, or run away"

 

With the help of these more effective prayer techniques, according to (i.a.) the Desert Fathers’ experiences and writings, the outcome of our personal and daily spiritual battle, when fought deliberately, focused, and well-guided, can in some cases effect God to restore through His (+) grace the peace and original God-centred innocent obedience to God’s will from before the Fall. This battled for (but eventually only God-given) grace of restored original holiness is often referred to as theosis, which is a somewhat exalted word for the very real, direct, and God-given grace of getting to know God (+) through one or more direct personal experiences. This is what the orthodox tradition describes as ‘real theology’, and it is also the threshold and gateway to perfection within our lifetime here on earth.

At its best this spiritual - and very real - daily battle for perfection will lead us first to a stable state of dispassion. And then - who knows - towards a stable state of theosis already during our lifetime. Though successfully reaching - let alone: maintaining - such a state of perfection is in itself not necessary to be granted eternal life after we die, it is nonetheless the goal each Christian should ideally strive for during his or her earthly life. Why?  Because God (+) created us in His own image - i.e. holy - before the Fall, and now - after the Fall - He (+) still wants us to become holy again as He is Holy (see i.a. under the Old Testament Lev. 19:2 and in the New Testament Matthew 5:48).

 

"Since that era of the Desert Fathers these prayer techniques of Christian meditation, contemplation, and watchfulness slowly started to dilute and become less central. Therefore, these ancient prayer techniques were ever less practised, until they reached their current nadir within the mainstream churches of today. Nonetheless, traditional hermits (especially so within the orthodox tradition) have always remained predominantly focused on the original, undiluted, forms of these prayer techniques as practised by the Desert Fathers and Mothers"

 

Unfortunately, the road to perfection is not easy nor is it a one way street. For there are many ups and downs, setbacks, and pitfalls along the spiritual path. So, when we find ourselves placed before such a supernatural battle and goal, we cannot ignore 2000 years of history. And that history shows us that this spiritual battle is a very uneven fight indeed that resembles asymmetric warfare when seen from our individual human perspective. And if that is not yet enough to humble us, then it’s good to remember - as many Desert Fathers already rightly foresaw - that in our present time and in the coming generations there will almost be no one anymore who will successfully reach the threshold of Christian perfection - let alone maintain God’s consequential grace of restored holiness - during his or her remaining lifetime here on earth. This means that the most of us will have to fight our personal spiritual battle without the help and guidance of real life spirit-bearing (i.e. deified) elders who can see directly into our souls and who could teach us from their own personal experience. Without this experienced hands-on help, winning the - unavoidable - spiritual battle during our lifetime becomes even harder to accomplish.

 

"Though successfully reaching - let alone: maintaining - such a state of perfection is in itself not necessary to be granted eternal life after we die, it is nonetheless the goal each Christian should ideally strive for during his or her earthly life"

 

But is this battle winnable, and its ultimate goal still attainable? Yes, it is.

How? By maintaining a dynamic balance between doing our own very best within our life (through the various types of prayer with a focus on traditional Christian meditation, contemplation, and watchfulness, in combination with unflinching self-observation, honest introspection, study, lots of practice, and with constant failures along the way), while at the same time entrusting ourselves fully to God’s (+) divine will and providence.

Or as apostle Paul phrased it more succinctly: by fighting the good fight while aiming to finish the race and keep the faith (2 Timothy 4:7).

Nothing more. Nothing less.

And this is also why I will always appreciate to receive your feedback. Especially - in the spirit of psalm 141:5 - when it is critical or even downright negative. For your honest feedback will help me become a better person, it will help me grow as a hermit, and it will enable me to apologise and make amends to you whenever you may have felt offended unjustifiably because of me.

And if you think that I could maybe help you, in apostle Paul’s words, to fight the good fight, then continue to the next page to see who, how, and when I might be able to help you with that. Through providing practical and convincing answers and solutions to your Christian questions and struggles, and to help you improve and deepen your daily prayer life in order to enable you to live a more fulfilling and effective Christian life in this world through growing in self-emptying, dispassion, and unconditional love. For comments and commentaries of others on how I try to do this, you can visit this page.