Sometimes, I seemed to be attracted to stories others might new bother to read. And I am sure the reverse is true. Others read stories I would never click and read. It is not unusual to decide ahead of the time, we are not interested in something. Maybe this is selective reading. I try to be careful and not be too dismissive. So often, I have picked up really interesting things by reading something that most would assume I would never read that.
And so it was recently when I was attracted by this headline in a BBC publication. The headline read: “Why this man became a hermit at 20.” I am sure I smiled and thought, “Indeed, why would he?” I know a fair amount about hermits. I have met one when I was in Kentucky one time. Occasionally a monk living in the monastery receives permission from the abbot to move to a hermitage. Probably the most famous example is Thomas Merton.
Merton lived in the Abbey of Gethsemani in Kentucky. He joined in 1941 and received permission to move to a hermitage a little distance from the monastery itself. This move happened in 1965. Merton tragically died in 1968, still a relatively young man in his 50s. The hermitage still stands, and I have been there a number of times. Usually, I am accompanied by one of the monks of Gethsemani. One of my favorite monks (if having favorites is permissible!) is Brother Paul, who joined Gethsemani when Merton was the Novice Master.
I know this background is why I knew I would read the article about some 20-year old taking off for the woods. In 1968 Christopher Knight did just that in the Maine woods. He set up a little tent and we are told, “He didn't come out again for 27 years.” No flash in the pan here! He was all alone, even though there were some small cabins in the vicinity. The next fact I found a little troubling. Asked how he fared for food, etc., Knight “survived by breaking into these cabins and a community centre and stealing supplies. He only took what he needed - food, cooking fuel, clothes, boots, batteries for torches and a lot of books.” This seems wrong and irresponsible to me.
We are told he did this at least 1,000 times! Obviously, this would cause consternation and eventually the police set a trap and captured him. In the meantime, we wonder, along with the author, what do you do? I love how the author described it. “What he did was what you and I might call 'nothing'." Apparently, some folks are content to do nothing---for 27 years! I am not sure his quest was spiritual.
Our author found another hermit, Sara Maitland, who lives in Scotland. Her story seems more spiritual. She self-identifies as a Christian. She has a sense of humor. She tells us, “I joke that wanting to be solitary is bad, sad and mad.” When asked why she does it, she answered with one word; “Ecstasy.” She is not talking about the drug by that name.
She offers some interesting detail. “Silence is a place in which I can find ecstasy. I only get it in silence and most people I know only get it in silence. It is just a fabulous feeling. You know, you're walking along and quite suddenly you just say, 'Yes!' It's an extraordinarily intense response. Totally joyful.” It is typical that solitude also brings silence.
And it is in this context, she gets a sense about life itself. It is an affirmation: Yes! I know too many people in this world who only experience from life a NO. So I am not quick to poke fun at Sara Maitland. For her this Yes is a connection with God. She knows others might interpret it differently, but I like her take on the situation.
She seems quite clear in her intentions and hopes. She says, “I'm trying to position myself, so the gift of mystical prayer is available to me, because actually the presence of God is a terrifically nice experience. I think it's heaven! Literally. I think that is what it will be like in heaven, that extraordinary sense of fulfilled intimacy.”
I smile to myself and ask, “am I experiencing heaven right now?” So again, I am careful not to think she is a wacko and I am perfectly normal. Maybe she has something I only ache to have. Whereas Christopher Knight does seem slightly wacky, Sara Maitland has something special going for herself. She is clearly on a spiritual path.
She is a profound person in my estimation. She knows it works for her because she chooses to be there. Forced solitude is not a good thing---not a spiritual discipline. In her freedom from things, she has freed herself up to be for God. In her silence she is able to wait for the intimacy of the Spirit to come to her, wrap her and become one---ecstasy, as she said.’
I find that attractive. Spending a little time as a hermit is not a bad idea.
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