Nearly as difficult as the challenge to humility and spiritual poverty is the invitation in Understanding #6 to a life of "fearless personal honesty." The gist of the paragraph emphasizes the need for consistency between sacred & secular, Sunday & workday, home & away. Good reminders, especially for those of us in dispersed religious communities. It's so tempting to get dressed in my habit, or put on my Community Cross, or in some other way "put on" the identity of "professional Christian" for those moments when I want to feel "holy," and then take it off again when I'm done.
It was even harder when I was a parish priest - the mask was on 24/7. On the one hand, I had to be consistent. There was no separation between my Sunday identity and the rest of the week. The collar went on every morning, and off I went to be the designated "God person" for my parishioners. On the other hand, the mask, or the collar, was so much a part of my life that it became a semi-permanent fixture. When I left parish ministry I had no idea who I was or what I was fit to do without that persona in place.
Life grounded in the hermitage, with employment in the world that requires me to be of service to others, is proving to be the right sort of testing ground for this challenge to authenticity. There's no collar, no "Clergy" parking tag, no visible cues for the outside world to identify me as a professional Christian. If I am to carry the presence of Christ with me into the world, I must cultivate that presence in private, and carry it out with me silently, unheralded by signs and symbols, deep within the authentic core of my being.
Life as a hermit doesn't make honesty or integrity any easier. If anything, it's much harder holding myself to a consistent standard now than it has ever been. But it is worth the struggle. The challenge itself seems more authentic, and so may result in time in a more authentic me.
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