Imprisoned Hermit

Abs Borja, “The Imprisoned Hermit,” Ugnay
vol. XI, no. 1 (May-December 2004): 19.

The Imprisoned Hermit
Frt. Abs Borja, SVD

When I was told by the editor to write about eremitical life, I suddenly remember an old, unpleasant, bearded man with along white hair, dressed in a filthy robe, holding a staff, and living alone at the hub of the jungle. That was a figment of my childhood imagination of an “ermitanyo (hermit).” I was deeply fascinated about it, yet, I found it a boring lifestyle.
Back to my sanity. After several days of scribbling my thoughts and losing my patience with this fickle mind, I approached the editor telling him that I am hard up writing this article. I was planning to withdraw from writing this literary composition, but if I do so, I’ll be missing the opportunity to impart my own story, my experience, and my reflections and the rare moment to be with you in an exciting adventure – to meet the hermit in the jungle. We have some rules to observe carefully. First, remove the unnecessary baggage that might cause a burden to the flight, and second, avoid creating any noise that will disturb the hermit. Are you ready? Okay, take a deep breathe then we go. A second, two minutes, sixteen days, twenty months…after twenty-one years, eureka! There he is my own little hermit. Mostly the unheard part of my person; crying, longing for eternal freedom and solitude.
My hermit is not in the jungle. I found him imprisoned inside the walls of my various desires; in fenced by my mundane attachments; bound by the barbwires of my retained worldly pleasures and shackled in the chains of my insatiability. Now, I discovered him. It is my pleasure to heed his desires to see the true light and the brightness of God’s glory; to smell the fragrance of God’s paradise; to hear the sound of silence; to taste the sweetness of solitude; and to feel the warmth of God’s loving presence.
Settling in a hermitage house in the novitiate’s holy grounds ushered me to breach some barriers. It widened my horizons and escorted me to uncover the small world of silence in this big tough world of noise. This world of silence offers excellent time to unwind, relax, and detach myself from the bustle of routinely activities. It is a friendly place to savor the sweet and settle the bad memories of the past and appreciating their contributions in building who I am. Most of all, it is a conducive place to waste time with the Lord.
I lulled the awakened hermit into sleep when I am so busy ad very much concerned with so many things. But in silence, I wake him up from sleep – a young sweet child wearing a shimmering robe of truth, holding a rod of hope, dwelling in the nucleus of peace and love. This hermit is a precious gift designed to bridge between God and me.
How about you? Have you found your own hermit? The secret is to pause for some moments of silence and allow your hermit to come out of the prison. Give adequate time for your hermit to wonder and to live in freedom.