WHOLLY OR HOLY ALONE
On talk radio I hear people refer to ’unpacking’ a topic, a term which seems to be a useful stand-in for exploring, looking into for the first time, or opening up.
Exploring how we can be either holy, or wholly, alone, on the one hand there are the hermit, stylites and desert monks, seeking and trying to love God. On the other, there are those with anti-social tendencies, self-absorption, or such unhygienic habits or obnoxious personalities as to make them social pariahs.
Those with devotion to God likely have a mindset which requires love, or at least charitable treatment of, others. Still, here can be legitimate reasons for ignoring or excluding others, or course, such as might be the case with a shy girl trying to give a boy the message that she’s not interested, without the unpleasant business of directly telling him to get lost, or even letting on that she is aware of his existence.
Among the holy, might there be a meaningful dichotomy between sociable and solitary saints?
