I started the day reciting Morning Prayer and the Eucharistic texts of the day. I didn't look for the Canton Benefice streamed service on line, or any other, but then, to be honest, I didn't look too hard. I have been pretty busy one way or another, keeping in touch with people, and maybe undervaluing the gift of solitude I received through the choice I made to stay here and not leave. It's something that has to be welcomed, something to become immersed in, with all the fears and uncertainties of entering the unknown, where the interplay between the conscious and unconscious mind takes on a different dynamic.
The life of people who commit themselves to the way of the hermit within monasticism has been of interest to me over the years, since discovering the third century Egyptian Desert Fathers in my twenties, and the writings of Thomas Merton. These people lives alone, often far from the regular worship of the church any day of the week. It's challenging to those whose life has revolved around the Church's Eucharist and daily Offices of prayer in common. Monks can't do it because they fancy doing it. They belong to a community with an Abbot and a spiritual director who are essential to the discernment process. They have to feel confident a person is mentally and physically healthy before they are given permission to try hermit life. They still need practical support from the community too. The quality of the communication between them needs to be high, or else risk disaster.
I heard someone on the radio the other say state "Just because you choose to live alone and are comfortable in your own company doesn't mean you're not interested and turning your back on the world, rather the opposite. Being alone makes space to be aware of everything that's happening out there and understand how we are all interconnected." That kind of consciousness is necessary if you are interceding for the world one way or another. Our personal prayer lists serve as a gateway to the greater reality of being 'members of one another', not just the church, but humankind. I think I have a lot to learn.
A pleasant change to have some slightly warmer sunny weather for my daily perambulations of the property. The more my mind slows down and relax, the more I can appreciate the variety as well as the limits of my new environment. How blessed I am by the jungle diversity of the garden, and the bucolic views. I am hearing the mating calls of birds probably tits and finches, but their calls aren't what a British ear is attuned to. So I have downloaded a Spanish bird identifying app on to my tablet to help me figure out what's there.
I think I spotted a swift flying low over the arroyo next door. It seemed not to be gliding at a pace and doing aerobatics, the way they usually do. It may have been trying to locate a place where a good supply of insects could be found. Its movements looked tired. I wondered if it had flown up from Africa in nasty cold weather conditions, and just about made it. Few bees or butterflies seen so far, butterflies mostly ones resembling UK Cabbage Whites, and a solitary lemon yellow one which I nearly got a picture of. Not quick enough however, in slow down mode.
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