Into Great Silence

The hermit happened upon the DVD Into Great Silence. This is the highly acclaimed film by Philip Groning about the life of the Carthusians at La Grande Chartreuse.

Viewing the film, in silence and solitude this past Saturday evening, at Agnus Dei, instills change of heart and soul, deep within.

The hermit has studied the Carthusians for several years, and the longing to possess God in the way these monks possess God, reawakens and vivifies. Peace grows. Peace and purpose sprout from the seed crushed and fallen to the ground, buried alive and now bringing new life.

In a conversation a couple days ago, with a priest "assignee"--a soul in need of much healing and of letting go of the past--the hermit describes this monumental film and its message. The assignee is eager to view it, also, yet does not have a call to Carthusian spirituality, per se. However, in encouraging the assignee to view how God is now utilizing him, and the freedom and joy of being utilized in ways he had not considered previously, the hermit laughed and said, "Your life is showing me myself."

The question was asked: Why have I spent several years beating my head against a stone wall?

The assignee shared an image that popped into his head: A bird in a cage flying against the bars--when the cage door is wide open!

So it is that the hermit is called again into great silence. The joy and peace surround in overcast and cold with brilliant gold and red and orange leaves waving flags of freedom in the vista across Lake Immaculata.

A letter is prepared for the Bishop: a letter of gratitude and acceptance. The hermit is grateful that no canonical approval was or will be granted. The hermit is grateful that no position in the Church, no category or volunteer task, is or will be granted. Rather, freedom is granted: freedom to fly through the open cage door--and freedom to fly back into the cage when God wills. To fly freely back and forth, between worlds.

The hermit explains to the Bishop that the hermit realizes now that the bulk of the hermit's work is in the supernatural world, not the temporal world, not the Catholic world, although all worlds meld. The hermit is now more a Catholic than ever, in love and prayed-for-purity. The hermit understands and rejoices that abjection is the desired gift and way of life. The hermit has re-pondered the angel's message, and there would not have been the same freedom if the hermit's will had been done.

The hermit had wrongly imposed his will upon God. The hermit sees this now, even though in rational, temporal, and Catholic sight it seemed canonical approval and working in and for the Church would make so much sense. But it is not what God desires of this hermit! St. John of the Cross has explained detachment from the senses, and making sense is often an attachment, for it is not God's sense.

Now the hermit flies into great silence, renews the focus of balance in the nine s', and is at peace.

How beautiful is the will of God, is fulfilling one's destiny, when one stops flying against the bars and