The Harried Mystic

It is not an idle thought that saw de we must care for each other.

It is not a moral platitude to place on a lovely card or to say when we are comfortably “fat and happy” or without a care.

It is not a quaint sentiment made to order for those looking to merely sound wise and then off they go to solitary activity.

We perish alone. This is the root fear of all people.

We were not made to be islands set apart without the tether of real connectedness. Only the hermits truly called to solitude know the deep truth of interdependence.

They feel closer to their communities of brothers and sisters in proportion to the depth of their solitude. They feel that yearning for true communion.

The other’s voice reminds us of our part in the the choir. The glimmer in their eyes reminds us of the first spark that cleared our vision; our first light.

I see the gift of Solitude now as conditioning to better hear the voices of my sisters singing of love and life, loss and remembrance.

How I yearn to see again the faces of my sainted parents, grandparents, baby sister, aunts and uncles. I strain hard to recall the sound of their laughs and the tembre of their voices.

“We don’t live alone. We are members of one body. We are responsible for each other. And I tell you that the time will soon come when if men will not learn that lesson, then they will be taught it in fire and blood and anguish. Good night.” J B. Priestley, An Inspector Calls

I am reminded how precious this moment really is.

© The Harried Mystic, 2020 and Br. Anton, TSSF. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.