I’d like to share a little more desert …

Just laying here, eating pills and crackers, gives me time to think. And write. So I  thought I’d share one last thought today and then try to take a nap. So …

Poustinia: Derived from the Russian word for desert a poustinia is a small sparsely furnished room or cabin. Its a place for someone to go in order to fast and pray, and to be alone with God.

Poustinik: A person who lives the above permanently. It is a calling without formal consecration or vows.

Poustiniks have existed in the Russian Orthodox Church for some time. Over the past several decades it has been accepted more and more by Roman Catholics as a valid spiritual calling and has been adopted, with the permission of a spiritual adviser or someone in a similar position, by many.

Specifically, a poustinik lives alone. Strictly speaking a poustinik is not a hermit, although many see it as something similar. For myself, other than the fact that they live alone, I don’t see the resemblance. A poustinik helps in the community when help is needed. For example, in Russia when it was time to harvest crops the poustinik would lend a hand where needed. That doesn’t sound like a hermit to me, being actively engaged in community endeavors,  although I suppose a hermit could certainly do the same if called upon. A poustinik also has an “open door” policy. When a visitor comes they are greeted by the poustinik with, “Welcome. Come in and share what God has blessed me with.” Again, this doesn’t sound like a hermit to me. Not that hermits are inhospitable. I don’t mean that at all. Its just that hermits, in my mind, live a more secluded existence and because of that probably don’t get that many knocks on the door.

I explain the above because in my mind, whether I’m right or wrong, a poustinik is very socially inclined even tho they live alone. I don’t see it as being like a hermit at all. And I suppose that as being a poustinik is a personal calling it lends itself, at least in part, to a personal definition.

I was reading about poustiniks and it seemed to me that living as a poustinik, with a few simple and necessary modifications given a persons time and place, would be a wonderful way for someone who lives alone and is a Benedictine Oblate to live the Rule of Saint Benedict more fully. A sort of calling within a vocation. And, given today’s world and the people who are spiritually seeking, it could easily be a good way for any single person to live if they feel called to it and have the proper permission.

There was one other thing that drew my attention to the life of a poustinik. It was the reason for the open door policy. People go to the poustinik to talk. Maybe they need advice, or maybe they need to share a joy or sorrow, perhaps they’re lonely, some folks need to vent, and of course there are people who just want to talk. The poustinik is there for them. Now for me the first thing that comes to mind  is that anyone giving advice needs some life experience if nothing else. So I’d say again, life experience being what it is and normally including others, the poustinik would be more of a social being than one given to retreating from the world.

I thought this something worth sharing. It seems to me a fine calling and maybe someone reading this will feel drawn. I felt drawn when I heard of it. I went over the concept with the Oblate Director at Subiaco Abbey, and it was pretty obvious to me that the Spirit of God was working through him. I explained my view of it, a poustinik being a kind of spiritual activist, and when he saw that it wasn’t going to be a reason for me shutting people out but rather a way of inviting them in and going out to them, he gave me his permission to live my Oblate life as a poustinik. He gave me some good advice to help keep me in the right place spiritually and I’m thankful. A good portion of my “open door”, given my health, is this blog and my Facebook pages. Hopefully this new viewpoint will bring me closer to Christ and help me help others to do the same.

Now, all of you, welcome! Come share with me what God has blessed me with. 🙂

Why My Rosary?

“My” Rosary. This is personal. I want to share a reason why my Rosary is such a precious thing to me. And this is, admittedly, a tad different.

When I was little I had a mild form of epilepsy. The doctor said I’d outgrow it and I did. The “attacks” were very odd. No one but me knew they were happening. Sound and movement changed for me. Sounds were very loud and at the same time muted as though they were far away and stuffed with cotton, and movement was very, very fast and in slow motion both at the same time. All this went on inside me with my seeing and hearing. And even though I outgrew it there was and is a certain kind of “residue” left over from it. Certain types of movements make me a certain type of dizzy. If I get that kind of dizzy for very long I get nauseous. And that can last for hours or, at its worst, days. An example would be this: Someone holds up a piece of paper, maybe something they are trying to call my attention to because they want me to read it, “Hey, look at this letter from Ed I just got! You’ll want to read this!”, and my eyes fix on it, follow it, I get dizzy, and the rest is nausea. I have to avert my eyes at a time like that. Other things trigger it to, like looking up and down at a stationary thing through mu bifocals (got sick for three days once because of that), but I’ve learned to look away or down so it doesn’t really happen very often.

After I became a Benedictine Oblate I tried praying the Liturgy of the Hours. Guess what turning the pages back and forth did? Right, it made me dizzy. I tried different books, prayer books, but nothing I found seemed to work for me. The books were fine but they either made me dizzy with page turning, back and forth, or they were over simplified and boring, or … Well, anyway, I couldn’t find a book that I could use. And the books were fine, they just didn’t work for me. So I went to my confessor and explained everything to him that I just shared with you. What could I do? I mean, I don’t have to have a book to pray but I do, personally, need some structure. It helps me focus, it helps me share with God what I need to share. But I need a little creative space too. Remember that some of those books got boring? I need to have structure with leeway. So, what to do?

My Rosary. It gives me the necessary structure, discipline, and room to let my mind explore. The Mysteries are infinite in depth because they deal with our Infinite God. So my Divine Office is a string of blessed beads. And it works well for me. It’s why I write a daily Rosary devotion here on my blog. Bottom line, its kind of all I know.

Centuries ago the simple peasants that lived near monasteries saw the lives the monks lived, their prayer life in particular, and wanted that sort of spirituality for themselves. But they couldn’t read. For them, saying 150 Hail Mary‘s on their Rosary beads took the place of the 150 Psalms that the monks prayed. It was their prayer-book, their liturgy. They lived close to the monastery, close to God’s good earth, close to God. I consider myself to be in blessed company. I am happily satisfied with My Rosary. I figure the epilepsy and its aftermath is a blessing in disguise.

Ecclesiastes 12:12 for Benedictine Oblates

Saint Benedict of Nursia and his Rule.

“We desire that this Rule be read often in the community, so that none of the brothers may excuse himself on the ground of ignorance.” From the Rule of Saint Benedict, 66:8.

There are a great many books in the world. Happily there are many that are good and worth pursuing. Study is a wonderful thing. In moderation. Anything can be over done. I used to read the Bible so much that I actually dreamed verses. All night. I love God’s word but, you know, my guess is that He wants me to get a good nights sleep as well as study.

” … Of making many books there is no end: and much study is an affliction of the flesh.” Ecclesiastes 12:12. Hmm. That’s IN God’s word.

One of the many things that can pose a problem for a lot of people, and this is just my thought based on my experience because I know me better than I know anyone else and this is one of the things that can pose a problem for me, is setting priorities. There is so much that is positive and that would obviously do me good that it’s a hard task at times to set certain things aside in preference to others. I’ve heard it said, and I believe it to be true, that the good can be the enemy of the best. So setting priorities, putting the best before the good, probably needs to be high up the list of priorities, wouldn’t you think?

With priorities in mind and with the intention of putting what’s best first let’s go back to the Rule of Saint Benedict and the passage above. There are a multitude of references in the Rule about readings and study. During Lent, for example, the monks, according to Saint Benedict, were to be given books from the library that they would study as Lent progressed. Reading and study are important. But our good Saint Benedict says to give each monk A book, not five or sixteen or, well, you get the picture.

There are good books available on a wide variety of subjects. Books on how to play better golf, books on how to be a good Oblate, books on how to write books, and more. You know, I always wanted to play golf but never had the time. So I planned to play after retirement. When I got sick back in 2007 and had to “retire” I had time on my hands and started going to thrift stores. I found golf bags and golf clubs galore. In good condition too. I could have had a world-class set of clubs for, oh, say fifty bucks or less. But now? Now that I have time to play? I’ve got so much structural damage that if I tried to swing a club I’d either end up in traction or end up making my chiropractor very rich. So I can’t play golf. And you know what? I can’t read every good book that’s out there either. So once again I’m faced with the setting of priorities. Play golf and hurt myself or don’t play golf and not hurt? Read until my eyes fall out and I dream in chapters or read what’s best while setting what’s good aside?

OK, what was the very first book we had about Benedictine spirituality? What’s the very best book, time-tested and a worthy read, explaining Benedictinism? And wouldn’t it be nice to be able to find one volume that would answer to both of these? That would make prioritizing much simpler, wouldn’t it? Find a book like that and we’ll have the best rather than just the good, won’t we?

Want to grow as an Oblate in your spirituality? Want to be a better Oblate of Saint Benedict? Want to set a good priority? Want to simplify without the danger of giving up the best for the good? Want a library that will help you do all of this that you can hold in one hand?

“We desire that this Rule be read often in the community, so that none of the brothers may excuse himself on the ground of ignorance.” From the Rule of Saint Benedict, 66:8.

Now that was simple, wasn’t it?

The Holy Rule of St Benedict free ebook download

The Holy Rule of St Benedict doc free ebook download from www.ssccpicpus.com.

As a Benedictine Oblate I would like to share with you the Rule of our spiritual father in Christ, St. Benedict. This little book, along with the very many men and women down through the ages that lived it, made Europe a Christian place and so changed the face of the world for all time and for Christ Jesus. Benedictines largely kept civilization going when the world around us, the pagan world, was falling into ruin and taking itself along that road to ruin. Given that history tends to repeat itself, mostly due to ignorance of it and apathy towards anything other than “me”, it looks like, given the current state of world affairs, we may get to do it again. With that in mind you might like to read this rule/guide book.