Sheriff Visits Agnus Dei Once More

The hermit had to summon the sheriff again. The hermit would have preferred to go once more to the sheriff's station, but they wanted to send out a deputy in a marked car. Perhaps the marked car would give a message in the neighborhood that they are taking seriously the hate mail.

Yes, it still has to do with the fabricated but sensational story for the newspaper, and the neighbor woman is also helping spread more details, as this latest letter indicates that the author is someone who knows the neighbor. Now the hermit is also being accused of having killed the neighbor's previous cat. It is all rather amazing to consider how evil such silly situations can become.

The Bishop spoke this morning, the Feast of the Epiphany, about adoration, evil in the world but Christ greater than evil, and on mission to bring Christ as Light into the world. He reminded us that Jesus did not come to the world to abolish evil; but that He predominates over evil, always.

Just takes a different view: the spiritual view over the world view.

A priest from India sent an e-mail and shared his homily. I liked this section particularly:

"Herod was completely enslaved with the earthly matters, therefore had no time to be worried of the matters of the sky. However, the message of the birth of the savior threatens him badly and he prepares an evil plan of action which would threaten the lives of many innocent children. The second type of the people is the priests and the court attendance s of the king Herod. They had all the skills and the wisdom to know and seek the Savior. But they did not strive for seeking the king of kings. There can be people among us who are with the excellent capacity and wisdom to seek and find the truth and to become the worshppers of truth. They are knowledgeable, but not spiritually stimulated. They can know about the heavenly matters; but they stay away from it because they are not adequately spiritually motivated. They are supposed to be spiritual, yet they preferred to be mundane. The third categories of people are like the magi, who are knowledgeable, are genuinely motivated; who thinks that it is worth to be seekers. They do not hesitate to be part of a journey, even when they are given no sign, except the star. Yet they find the journey meaningful and worth making. They have gone off the track. Instead of following the star, they went and asked the king Herod about the new born child, which did not help them to reach the manger. Like, the magi we too can be off the track, mislead, confused; yet we need to sure that we can make a comeback. Like them we too, may start well, but can be caught up with something in between. However the magi are telling us to return to the path and look high up in the sky, seeing the stars, keep moving toward the Savior in order to offer ourselves as gifts to him who is born as our Savior."

The hermit loves the part of being interested in matters of the skies. Yes, this goes for vocation, also. We must keep our eyes and hearts and souls on our vocation. We might glance down from the Star on occasion, but we must strive more and more to keep our view on "the skies."

Although a priest last evening advised the hermit to get an attorney regarding what is becoming a most unfortunate incident of evil and sickness, now involving others who believed what they read (why shouldn't they--don't we trust the press?)--the hermit is praying about these matters, trying to keep the eyes on the Star in the skies. The priest also recommended having an alarm system installed. He also said, that based on his experience with many people, that my neighbor probably is a paranoid schizophrenic. Well, yes, that is highly likely; and he said that other family members after so long a time, go along with the person or else have the illness as well. Yes, that is highly likely, also. He then said that along with such illnesses, demonic oppression and sometimes demonic possession are right in there. Yes, yes, yes. Agree.

Two other friends have advised an attorney, as they say these people are not going to stop. No, I agree, they won't until someone moves away or death do us part. Now, that death could be the death of the evil manifesting.

But, in the middle of the night, the hermit was praying, and the hermit does not want to lose the inner peace and joy of nesting within the Sacred Heart, and the hermit found itself saying, "Lord, I'd rather DIE than to have to be pulled back out into the world of lawyers and alarm systems."

Now, I know that lawyers and alarms are very good services and products, but the hermit just doesn't desire the world at all, or very little--just enough to exist as long as God desires the hermit to exist here. If the newspaper desires to print a retraction, fine. Let them. The hermit is not naive, but also does not want to anticipate that these people will then just do something else.

In fact, the hermit recalled in the night, a time last summer in which the little grandson was allowed to drive a motorized jeep out into the street. No big deal, although I would not have this situation if it were my grandchild--very dangerous even though many small children have these vehicles. I was in my car, returning to Agnus Dei, and approaching I saw the four-year-old not watching, and doing a fast turn to head right out into the middle of the street. I stopped a good two lots down and waited. His father (the mother left the husband and child, and one can wonder) came out and had quite a temper display. Well, I am detracting, aren't I? Anyway, I can hopefully write what happened to the hermit as a result. The grandfather came out later when the hermit was dead-heading roses, and said that he'd heard from his son that I had hit the little boy with my car! There was more, but I did that time clarify that I had NOT hit the child, would NOT hit the child, had waited down the street as I had SEEN the child was not watching and was heading out into the street, unattended.

So, this is part of that world of which the Bishop spoke, and the hermit vocation is fairly removed most of the time, except when God brings the world to the hermit. For now, the hermit is not going to take the situation back into the world via an attorney or workers to install an alarm system. What is the point? In the hermit's past, there has been litigation, and people perjure themselves quite readily and no one investigates--at least not in the several instances of my personal experience.

No, the hermit is more interested in the hermit life, which includes mostly prayer. The hermit recalls the Bishop's homily on the Vigil of the Mother of God. He stated that many can consider having Jesus in their hearts, but how many can keep their enemies in their hearts?

The hermit's heart is being stretched out in a major way. There are four adults and a child next door, several other neighbors and families, this recent woman who says she works in a hospital and how unChristian is the hermit, despicable, abusive, incapable of loving anything, and so forth, the various Sheriff deputies, the newspaper editors and column chiefs, and all the many who have read the article and are outraged.

A friend called yesterday and had read it, and we laughed when she (more said than asked), "Was that YOU?" She and her husband are in great favor of taking action, but then, they are in active apostolate within the Church.