Hermits and the Worldly

The typical image of the hermit is of a half-crazed old wo-man sitting in a cave in some lonely, desolate mountain range or desert totally isolated from all human life. Those of us who actually pursue the eremetical life know better than that of course. But how attached (or detached) ought we be from the world?

My question really is: Do you, as hermits, take it upon yourselves in quiet ways, whether through print or internet, to learn about particular suffering and particular realities around the world? What I mean by “take it upon yourself” is whether you truly take up His Cross upon your shoulders, making a given suffering your suffering. Imagine for instance places such as Darfur, Burma (Myanmar), China, Tibet, Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine, or issues surrounding refugees, hunger, dispossession, war, famine, abuse. Holding these realities in one’s heart and in one’s prayer becomes not only solidarity with those who are suffering, but represents a sort of noble suffering in itself – to carry about such hurting sorrows as though they are your own.

After all, no one requires prayerful recluses who are living in holy separation from the world to learn about or even be aware of the horrors of our everyday world. And yet what greater purpose could religious hermits serve? Yes, of course their prayers are the major line of defense against the evils of hell but could their efforts not be more effective if specifically targeted to an issue or a place of exceptional evil? I wonder. There is a carmel in Indianapolis in which the sisters do just that, they pray the headlines. Visit them at http://www.praythenews.com/.