Even the anchorite who meditates alone,T.S. Eliot
For whom the days and nights repeat the praise of God,
Prays for the Church, the Body of Christ incarnate.
Christian mystics and monastics seem to contradict our notion of a relational body, of believers who share "life together," as Bonhoeffer called it. We think of them as withdrawn from the world, of their lives given over to prayer and meditation, lives spent apart from the common concerns of humanity. But they are, we say with Eliot, connected to us in praise of God, in prayer for the Church, "the body of Christ incarnate." Or we resort to paradox: their "inward" searching for God somehow becomes achieves an "outward" manifestation. Their withdrawal from the world, we say, leads them back into the world again. But our metaphors betray us; the paradox is more an invention, than a reality.
Take the anchorite, the most extremely withdrawn of the monastics. A not uncommon practice of the medieval church, anchorites lived alone in their cells, where they spent their lives. But the solitude was far from total. Hildegard of Bingen actually began her vocation by being dedicated, by her parents, to live in with an anchorite in her cell. Julian of Norwich lived in a cell attached to a church just off one of the main streets of Norwich, England. The anchorite, before entering the cell, went through their own funeral, so that they would be dead to the world, but alive always to God. They weren't dead, of course, and Julian of Norwich spent much of her adult life in her cell, studying, learning to read and write, and revising her description of the revelation she had, the "shewing," during a near death experience. Clearly she was often available to the world. "There was a `Rule of Life` associated with this order drawn up in the 13th century, which stated that the cell should have 3 windows that opened; one into the Church, so she could hear Mass and receive the Blessed Sacrament; one to communicate with her servant, who would have lived close at hand; one to give advice to those who sought it." (Father Martin Smith.) "Dead" to the world was not as severe as it might sound today.
Whihc is why we have to be careful; metaphors betray us here. "Dead to the world" is one. "Moving toward the center" or "protecting the boundaries, are two others. Just as the death of the anchorite was not absolute, was meant, indeed, to benefit the community through the anchorite's life, the "center" and the "boundaries" are not spatial concepts. Moving spatially away from the world into an anchorite's cell, is neither a physical concept, nor did it mean a movement away from the world. The desert fathers of the 4th century are another example. Had Julian been truly dead to the world; had the desert fathers truly left the world for the Egyptian desert, we would know nothing of them today. In fact, their solitude exemplifies the fact that we never move away from the world. But we do move, metaphorically speaking, throughout our lives: away from, or toward, the center. This is what the fathers, and the anchorites, try to teach us.
Metaphors, again, can lead us wrong. "Center" here means what is most important, but not necessarily "essential." It is not an essence we are seeking, or trying to recover. St. Teresa of Avila speaks of the "interior castle" within the soul, and the journey to its heart. But she doesn't mean a physical location, and she doesn't mean a spatial journey. She means movement toward the center. So moving toward the center, seeking the center, means neither movement, nor discovery. It does mean pursuing revelation, following wisdom. And it means pursuing what is of first importance, what Tillich would call the "ultimate concern."
We have to start there, to start to understand how the center holds, by not concerning itself with the outward spirals from, the lines that form the boundaries that are themselves products of illusion of power, which is control. We have to come back to it, to be sure; but we have to start, here. The center alone always holds. But it holds, by being the center; not by confusing itself with the boundaries.
Anchorite ambaye hujiuliza mwenyewe Eliot ambaye siku na usiku anarudia sifa ya Mungu, Anaomba kwa ajili ya Kanisa, Mwili wa Kristo aliyetokea. "Wakristo wa mistikia na wa watawa wanaonekana kupinga wazo letu la mwili wa mahusiano, wa waumini ambao wanashiriki ""maisha pamoja,"" kama Bonhoeffer alivyosema." Tunawaona kama watu waliojitenga na ulimwengu, ambao maisha yao yamejitoa kwa sala na kutafakari, maisha yao yamechukuliwa mbali na maslahi ya kawaida ya wanadamu. "Lakini, kama vile Eliot alivyosema, ""wanahusishwa nasi katika kumsifu Mungu, katika kuomba kwa ajili ya Kanisa, mwili wa Kristo aliyetokea katika mwili.""" "Kama tunavyoona katika sura hii, ni jambo la kushangaza kwamba ""utafutaji wa ndani"" wa Mungu kwa namna fulani unakuwa ""maonyesho ya nje.""" Kuondoka kwao katika ulimwengu, tunasema, huwaongoza kurudi tena katika ulimwengu. Lakini mifano yetu inatutia adabu; utata ni uvumbuzi zaidi, kuliko ukweli. Chukua anchorite, zaidi ya kupita kiasi kujiondoa ya monastics. Kwa kawaida katika kanisa la enzi za kati, waumini wa kanisa waliishi peke yao katika vyumba vyao, ambako waliishi maisha yao yote. Lakini upweke huo haukuwa kamili. Hildegard wa Bingen alianza kazi yake ya ufundi akiwa na mtoto wa kiume aliyetengwa na wazazi wake. Julian wa Norwich aliishi katika chumba kilichokuwa karibu na kanisa karibu na mojawapo ya barabara kuu za Norwich, Uingereza. "Wanachoreti walipaswa ""kufanya mazishi yao wenyewe"" kabla ya kuingia gerezani, ili wawe wafu kwa ulimwengu, lakini wawe hai milele kwa Mungu." "Julian wa Norwich alitumia muda wake mwingi katika chumba chake cha kifungo, akijifunza kusoma na kuandika, na kurekebisha maelezo yake ya ufunuo aliokuwa nao wakati wa uzoefu wa karibu na kifo.""" Ni wazi kwamba mara nyingi alikuwa akipatikana kwa ulimwengu. "Kulikuwa na ""Sheria ya Maisha"" inayohusiana na utaratibu huu ulioandikwa katika karne ya 13, ambayo ilisema kwamba chumba cha kulala kinapaswa kuwa na madirisha matatu yanayofunguliwa: moja ndani ya Kanisa, ili aweze kusikia Misa na kupokea Sakramenti Takatifu; moja ili kuwasiliana na mtumishi wake, ambaye angekuwa akiishi karibu; moja ili kuwapa ushauri wale waliotafuta." (Baba Martin Smith.) "Kufa" kwa ulimwengu hakukuwa jambo zito kama vile linavyoweza kuonekana leo. Whihc ni kwa nini tunapaswa kuwa makini; metaphors kutudanganya hapa. "Mfu kwa ulimwengu" ni moja. "Kusonga kuelekea katikati" au "kulinda mipaka", ni mbili nyingine. Kama vile kifo cha mchawi kilivyokuwa si cha mwisho, bali kilikuwa na kusudi la kufaidi jamii kupitia maisha ya mchawi, ndivyo "kati" na "mipaka" ilivyo. Kuondoka kwa nafasi kutoka kwa ulimwengu kwenda kwenye seli ya anchorite, si dhana ya kimwili, wala haimaanishi kuhamia mbali na ulimwengu. Baba wa Jangwa wa karne ya 4 Kama Julian alikuwa amekufa kwa kweli kwa ulimwengu, kama baba wa jangwa kweli waliondoka duniani kwenda jangwani Misri, hatungekuwa na habari yoyote juu yao leo. Kwa kweli, upweke wao unaonyesha ukweli kwamba hatuwezi kamwe kuondoka katika ulimwengu. Lakini sisi huhama, kwa njia ya mfano, katika maisha yetu yote: mbali na, au kuelekea, kituo. Hii ni nini baba, na anchorites, kujaribu kufundisha sisi. Kwa mara nyingine tena, mifano ya mfano yaweza kutuongoza vibaya. "Katikati" hapa humaanisha kile kilicho muhimu zaidi, lakini si lazima "kitu muhimu". Si kiini tunachotafuta, au tunachojaribu kupata. "Mtakatifu Teresa wa Avila anasema kwamba ""ngome ya ndani"" ni ""njia ya moyo.""" Lakini haimaanishi mahali halisi, na haimaanishi safari ya angani. Anamaanisha mwendo kuelekea katikati. Kwa hiyo kusonga kuelekea katikati, kutafuta katikati, haimaanishi mwendo, wala ugunduzi. Maana yake ni kufuatia ufunuo, kufuata hekima. "Kutumia maneno haya, Tillich alitoa wazo la ""muhimu zaidi.""" "Tunapaswa kuanza hapo, kuanza kuelewa jinsi kituo kinavyoendelea, kwa kutojishughulisha na mizunguko ya nje, mistari ambayo huunda mipaka ambayo yenyewe ni bidhaa za udanganyifu wa nguvu, ambayo ni udhibiti. """ Ni lazima turudi kwake, bila shaka; lakini ni lazima tuanze, hapa. Kituo pekee daima kushikilia. Lakini inashikilia, kwa kuwa katikati; si kwa kuchanganyikiwa yenyewe na mipaka.