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| nal pilgrim exploring the vast spaces of God. This journey is exquisitely beautiful and deeply satisfying to the soul. Within this journey one becomes poor in spirit and begins to realize "the need to have becomes the need not to have." This is when one begins to understand that all we really need is God. This is no easy journey and requires the ability to let go, to detach, and to trust. |
| As we grow spiritually, it is important to remember that our spirit resides in our physical body. Thus, the body is a temple of the Holy Spirit and we have a responsibility to it. We need to feed it, clothe it,. provide rest for it, and take proper care of it with all the resources available to us. We need to love ourselves and all of creation the animals, the trees, the plants, and all othersin the way that God loves everything. |
| Many people live out their entire lives eating right, exercising, being successful in the world, but never coming close to developing a poustinia. Yet others I have known are just the opposite; they pay no attention to the physical body but strive to be poustiniks in their daily lives. |
| At one time in my life, I put all my energies into trying to be a poustinik, a modern St. Francis. I cared little about anything of the world. I owned practically nothing, lived trusting in God and caring for others. There is a Franciscan saying that goes like this: |
| The more you own, the more it owns you. |
| I believe this is true. At the monastery where I lived, we had a retreat center I helped to run. I cooked, cleaned, made beds, and prayed three times a day. I was fed and given a room for sleeping. I did not make any money, yet my life was full of freedom and joy. After two years I left the monastery to help run a soup kitchen and Shelter for the homeless. Two years later, I was ready to return to the field of herbal medicine and nutrition with a whole new light and dedication. Today, I have a successful clinic, a loving and supportive wife, a child, and a vision to create a healing retreat center. My busy life with its added responsibilities has made it more challenging to continue to be a poustinik, but my vision has come from listening to my inner self. I still ask myself these questions daily: Where do I come from? Where am I going? Am I trusting in God? Am I allowing my spirit to emerge and become who I am? If love is the image of God, how well am I loving? |
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