We can learn a lot from saints like Julian of Norwich, who spent her religious life as an anchoress, which is basically a hermit. She lived in a little room in the convent. The room had a hole in one wall which faced the outside world and a second hole in the opposite wall that faced the chapel. Here she lived, prayed, and wrote. Many people would come to her for spiritual direction by standing on the sidewalk outside the convent and speaking to her through the hole in the wall. Julian wrote about her mystical experiences, which were vivid and wildly imaginative. She wrote about the necessity of experiencing our own weakness in the face of the almighty. In her own words, “If we did not fall, we would not know how weak we are of ourselves, nor should we know our Maker’s marvelous love so fully.”