{"id":10727,"date":"2026-08-27T19:03:13","date_gmt":"2026-08-27T23:03:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fatherboniface.org\/wordpresshome\/books-and-articles\/e90-accompaniment-01\/"},"modified":"2026-08-27T19:03:13","modified_gmt":"2026-08-27T23:03:13","slug":"e90-accompaniment-01","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.fatherboniface.org\/wordpresshome\/books-and-articles\/e90-accompaniment-01\/","title":{"rendered":"Accompaniment 1: Gen 2 \u2014 It is not good for man to be alone"},"content":{"rendered":"

Written for Exodus 90 in 2023, as part of a series of ten reflections on the art of accompaniment.<\/em><\/p>\n

In his monumental work on the Theology of the Body, Pope St. John Paul II introduced some key terms: \u201coriginal solitude,\u201d \u201coriginal unity,\u201d and \u201coriginal nakedness.\u201d Original solitude described the state of man in the beginning when he was alone with God. In that state, the man had self-awareness, a sense of purpose, and a capacity for self-determination. He could experience himself as a person from the inside. He could carry out God\u2019s task to name the animals. He could also follow God\u2019s command not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Furthermore, as he named the animals he could also see that none of them were like him. They did not have the \u201coriginal solitude\u201d that he had. When he looked into their eyes, he could not see a heart with its own personal story. He only saw a blank stare. There was nothing in them that could say \u201cI.\u201d<\/p>\n

In this original solitude, Adam was in the image and likeness of God and he had a personal relationship with God. He was in a state of grace. He was without sin. Isn\u2019t this the goal of the spiritual life? This is often what we are striving for. On our own, we try harder, try to follow all the rules, try to carry out the tasks and try to overcome sin. As Christians, we might dutifully note that we could not do it without God\u2019s grace. We could not achieve this state of perfection without Christ. Sometimes that is a deeply felt truth, having come to know our own weakness, and having found true strength in Him. But sometimes it is merely lip service, knowing that we should mention the Name of God and give Him some credit in our successes. Honestly, though, we don\u2019t really know how He was involved in our successes.<\/p>\n

Most surprisingly, God declares that even all this perfection in behavior is not the ultimate goal: \u201cIt is not good for man to be alone.\u201d As the creation narrative unfolds, we discover that we are made in an original unity and for a communion of persons: \u201cI will make a helper fit for him.\u201d Pope St. John Paul II teaches that although man is in the image and likeness of God in original solitude, he is MORE in the image and likeness of God when he is in a communion of persons (cf. https:\/\/www.vatican.va\/content\/john-paul-ii\/en\/audiences\/1979\/documents\/hf_jp-ii_aud_19791114.html<\/a>). Sometimes we have the notion that relationships are merely a means to an end, as if other people are only there to help me be perfect, because the real goal is for me to go and be perfect on my own. Genesis teaches us that, to the contrary, solitude with communion is imperfect\u2014it is not good for man to be alone. Developing a communion of persons with other human beings is an essential part of our destination. In fact, heaven is a total communion of persons.<\/p>\n

In this light, we can see the importance, but also the relative value of our personal spiritual exercises. We can also see the ultimate importance of our relationships. Our anchor, our group, our family, our friends, are not added extras. They make up the communion of persons which is already becoming a foretaste of heaven.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Written for Exodus 90 in 2023, as part of a series of ten reflections on the art of accompaniment. In his monumental work on the Theology of the Body, Pope St. John Paul II introduced some key terms: \u201coriginal solitude,\u201d \u201coriginal unity,\u201d and \u201coriginal nakedness.\u201d Original solitude described the state of man in the beginning […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":10722,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-10727","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/P7bfMR-2N1","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":10728,"url":"https:\/\/www.fatherboniface.org\/wordpresshome\/books-and-articles\/e90-accompaniment-02\/","url_meta":{"origin":10727,"position":0},"title":"Accompaniment 2: Gen 3 \u2014 The effects of shame","author":"Father Boniface Hicks, O.S.B.","date":"August 27, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Written for Exodus 90 in 2023, as part of a series of ten reflections on the art of accompaniment. The necessary condition for entering into a communion of persons is what Pope St. John Paul II calls \u201coriginal nakedness.\u201d This is the personal transparency that allows the inside to be\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10736,"url":"https:\/\/www.fatherboniface.org\/wordpresshome\/books-and-articles\/e90-accompaniment-10\/","url_meta":{"origin":10727,"position":1},"title":"Accompaniment 10: Jn 13 \u2014 A new commandment","author":"Father Boniface Hicks, O.S.B.","date":"August 27, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Written for Exodus 90 in 2023, as part of a series of ten reflections on the art of accompaniment. This Gospel passage summarizes the whole of salvation history and its fulfillment in Christ with a single commandment: \u201cLove one another as I love you.\u201d Earlier Jesus indicated that the greatest\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10726,"url":"https:\/\/www.fatherboniface.org\/wordpresshome\/books-and-articles\/e90-accompaniment-00-intro\/","url_meta":{"origin":10727,"position":2},"title":"Accompaniment: Introducing my contribution","author":"Father Boniface Hicks, O.S.B.","date":"August 27, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Written for Exodus 90 in 2023, as part of a series of ten reflections on the art of accompaniment. In the Benedictine, monastic tradition, there is a strong emphasis on accompaniment. Monks learn to be monks from other monks. 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Relationships are essential, but relationships can also be hurtful or unhelpful,\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10730,"url":"https:\/\/www.fatherboniface.org\/wordpresshome\/books-and-articles\/e90-accompaniment-04\/","url_meta":{"origin":10727,"position":4},"title":"Accompaniment 4: Mark 3 \u2014 The man with the withered hand","author":"Father Boniface Hicks, O.S.B.","date":"August 27, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Written for Exodus 90 in 2023, as part of a series of ten reflections on the art of accompaniment. As we have seen in our reflections so far, we are made to be in a communion of persons. It is necessary to be vulnerable to enter into a communion of\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10741,"url":"https:\/\/www.fatherboniface.org\/wordpresshome\/books-and-articles\/stl-deliverance-kerygma\/","url_meta":{"origin":10727,"position":5},"title":"The Essential Role of the Kerygma and Ongoing Accompaniment in Deliverance Ministry","author":"Father Boniface Hicks, O.S.B.","date":"August 27, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Written for Evangelization and Spirituality (STL 868) under Dr. Mary Healy, 28 July 2021, for the Licentiate in Sacred Theology. Introduction God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ \u201chas delivered us from the dominion of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fatherboniface.org\/wordpresshome\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/10727","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fatherboniface.org\/wordpresshome\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fatherboniface.org\/wordpresshome\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fatherboniface.org\/wordpresshome\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fatherboniface.org\/wordpresshome\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10727"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.fatherboniface.org\/wordpresshome\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/10727\/revisions"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fatherboniface.org\/wordpresshome\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/10722"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fatherboniface.org\/wordpresshome\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10727"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}