Spiritual Empowerment for Single People III

THE EVANGELICAL COUNSELS I - The Vow of Poverty

As one reads the Bible, and comes to see it as a personal message direct from God, the urgency of poverty for all becomes clear. Think of the rich young man who walked away from Jesus, sad because he could not part with his material possessions. The message Jesus gave to him is a universal message. The Bible is not just meant for erudition and entertainment; rather, it is to meant to be incorporated, as far as possible, literally as well as metaphorically, into one's life. While it may not be wise to go out and tread on scorpions, being loosely attached to one's possessions is achievable by all, especially single people. In fact, before I made my first year's vows to be a hermit, I gave away 12 bags of perfectly good clothes to Goodwill, trusting that the few things I kept would suffice to cover my needs at the moment, and that I would no doubt receive my hundredfold on Earth and in Heaven. Although I sorely missed some of the clothes, I gained an intoxicating sense of freedom; and I was comforted to think that some far poorer young woman, who perhaps needed fancy clothes to hold on to a man she needed, was at last well-clad. That was what I felt I had to do to be initiated into the hermit life.

Is this generosity? Is this special? Is it tomfoolery? No, it is simply justice. In the end, justice saved me. Soon I was given clothes by others, and had the money to buy more, and now I have a closet full of modest clothes, and I lack for nothing. I put the Kingdom of God first, and I received all that I needed. This kind of move is very pleasing to God, and shows utter surrender to Divine Providence. Jesus told us not to worry about what we should eat, drink or wear and I think, rather I know, that this kind of giving is possible for almost anyone of even modest means at least once in his or her lifetime.

I have some interesting links to share:

Catholic Spiritual Writers

http://spiritualwriters.groupsite.com

The New Jerusalem Laura of Hermits

http://newjerusalemlaura.groupsite.com

The Anti-Abortion Squad

http://antiabortionsquad.groupsite.com

and my Google Profile:

http://www.google.com/profiles/Anchoress61

Join me on these sites! I also am published by the following publisher:

http://www.lulu.com/

I have written and published four books:

Hell or No Hell? Mankind's Ultimate Destiny

You Gotta Be Tough to Be God

Tabfa, the Reluctant Saint

Nothing Will Ever Be The Same

Just go to Lulu, enter the titles on the search bar, and click, and voila! There they are! Buy them, they are sure to be classics one day!