Henri Nouwen wrote:
“In solitude I get rid of my scaffolding: no friends to talk with, no telephone calls to make, no meetings to attend, no music to entertain, no books to distract, just me—naked, vulnerable, weak, sinful, deprived, broken—nothing.
“It is this nothingness that I have to face in my solitude, a nothingness so dreadful that everything in me wants to run to my friends, my work, and my distractions so that I can forget my nothingness and make myself believe that I am worth something.”
Hermits don’t like to talk about themselves, but I suppose you want to know a little about me.
I became a Christian in 1983, attended Bible school, and eventually earned a Doctorate in Ministry. I served as a Protestant minister for 27 years and also spent about a decade practicing Buddhism.
In 2005, I was baptized into the Catholic Church, but have since joined the Episcopal Church. I live in the desert southwest of the United States with my wife and cat.
