Category Archives: Desert Wisdom

Another issue faced by the early Christians was the relationship between God’s grace and human response.  As with contemplation and practice, the early Christians sought to keep the together, forming a dynamic unity. For them, God’s grace is always primary, … Continue reading →

The attempt to rank practice (praktikos) and contemplation (theoretikos) is an ancient debate.  Bunge shows how the two became conjoined in early Christianity. Evagrius preferred contemplation because it was the “observation point” from which the rest of life is seen.  … Continue reading →

Bunge believes that one of the principal values of studying early-Christian prayer is that it will lead us to the recovery of “the missing Person”—the Holy Spirit.  Bunge believes that the Spirit has been lost in some circles in Western … Continue reading →

Bunge rightly points out that prayer is “the most noble expression of the spiritual life” (p. 27). This is because the essence of the Christian life is the cultivation of a relationship between ourselves and God.  And prayer is the name … Continue reading →

My choice to blog each week in relation to early Christianity is deliberate, and I assume it will remain a regular feature of Oboedire.  I simply cannot imagine trying to provide solid spiritual formation without remaining connected to this foundational … Continue reading →

We connect ourselves to tradition in learning to pray because we understand that prayer (like everything else in the spiritual life) is “gift.”  The wisdom of the early Christian fathers and mothers has been preserved by the Holy Spirit specifically … Continue reading →

In the movie, The Sound of Music, the song “Do-Re-Mi” contains this phrase:  “Let’s start at the very beginning; a very good place to start.” The apostle John agreed when, much earlier, he began his first letter with these words,”That … Continue reading →

Following his Introduction, Bunge formally begins his book with these words from Luke, “No one after drinking old wine desires new….” (5:39). Immediately,  we are plunged into “the great reverse” of the spiritual life.  It is the conviction that “the … Continue reading →

Before there was a theology of prayer, there was a prayer:  the Lord’s Prayer. In fact, before there was a Creed, there was a prayer.  It was Thomas Merton who first pointed me to the fact that the first theological … Continue reading →

If you’ve been reading Oboedire for a while, you’ve noted my reference to “sapiential theology”—theology which includes both belief and practice, set in the context of our larger search for God. Before we leave Bunge’s introduction, we have been brought … Continue reading →

Well, we begin a new “chapter” in our exploration of early-Christian spirituality, turning our attention to the practice of prayer according to the patristic tradition.  Just a reminder that we will be using Gabriel Bunge’s book, Earthen Vessels as a … Continue reading →

I’m continuing the “time out” on this weekly post, so those of you who want to do so can order Gabriel Bunge’s Earthen Vessels: The Practice of Personal Prayer According to the Patristic Tradition (Ignatius Press, 2002). If you have … Continue reading →

I am not moving immediately to another study, because I want to give you a little time to order the next book that we will be using as the basis for these weekly posts. We have kind of established Tuesdays … Continue reading →

We have come to the end of our brief look at The Desert Fathers, the sayings from early Christian men and women who lived as monastics.  We have limited our study to three sayings per Chapter in the original text.  … Continue reading →

Poemen was once asked to comment on the phrase, “Do not render evil for evil” (1 Thessalonians 5:15). Poemen spoke of the progression of evil in four stages: beginning in the heart, then in the face, then in words, and … Continue reading →

The last chapter in The Desert Fathers deals with visions.  This is a very important subject to address in spiritual formation because visions have been claimed with resulting good and evil.  They are a very “mixed  bag” in the history … Continue reading →

A hermit was asked, “How is it that some struggle in their religious life, but do not receive grace like their predecessors?”  He replied, “Because then love was the rule, and each one drew his neighbor upward.  Now love is … Continue reading →

We often think of Jesus’ words about laying down our lives for our friends as applying to some kind of heroic loss of life.  In today’s saying (17:10), Abba Poemen extends it into another area of life. “There is no … Continue reading →

We turn to Book 17 of The Desert Fathers, the chapter that collects sayings having to do with Charity. [Antony] also said, “Our life and our death are with our neighbor.  If we do good to our neighbor, we do … Continue reading →

The early Christians connected patience with silence. Poemen said, “Whatever hardship comes upon you, it can be overcome by silence”  (The Desert Fathers, Book 16, Saying 9). This is not the silence of passivity or complacency; it is the silence … Continue reading →

We turn to Chapter 16 in The Desert Fathers, sayings that have to do with Patience.  I have found this to be another chapter that depicts a topic differently than we usually think of it.  But patience, as it is … Continue reading →

John of Thebaid said, “Above all a monk should be humble.  For this is the Saviour’s first commandment, ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven (Matt. 5:3)” (The Desert Fathers, 15:23). Love is the … Continue reading →

Antony said to Poemen, “Our great work is to lay the blame for our sins upon ourselves before God, and to expect to be tempted to our last breath.” (The Sayings of the Desert Fathers, 15:2). Humility provides us with … Continue reading →

[Theodore said], Humility and the fear of God surpass all other virtues.  The gateway is humility…(Book 15, Saying 22, The Desert Fathers). In last week’s post, we focused on humility as the means for undermining egotism.  Today, we view it … Continue reading →

We move into Book Fifteen of The Desert Fathers, exploring for the next several weeks the theme of humility. Evagrius said, To go against self is the beginning of salvation (15:15). Humility is rooted in the surrender of the “self” … Continue reading →

Hyperichius said, “The monk’s service is obedience.  He who has this shall have his prayers answered, and shall stand by the Crucified in confident faith.  For that was how the Lord went to his cross, being made obedient even unto … Continue reading →

The hermits used to say, “God demands this of Christians: to obey the inspired Scriptures, which contain the pattern of what they must say and do, and agree with the teaching of the orthodox bishops and teachers” (14:13). The best … Continue reading →

Chapter 14 of The Desert Fathers brings us into the world of obedience. One rather long story (Saying 1) tells of a monk who followed Arsenius’ instructions “to the letter,” but didn’t take time to eat when he should have.  … Continue reading →

We end our look at Hospitality (Book 13) of The Desert Fathers with this interesting story. A priest, who had a reputation for generosity, was approached by a widow asking him for a little barley.  He told her to go … Continue reading →

Hospitality is arguably the best expression of simple surrender. A hermit who was very holy lived near to a community of monks.  Some visitors to the community happened to go to see him and made him eat, though it was … Continue reading →

Book Thirteen of The Desert Fathers explores the theme of hospitality. Saying 2 leads us to a very important place with respect to the keeping of spiritual disciplines.  When Cassian and his friends came from Palestine to Egypt, a hermit … Continue reading →

The brothers told this story: We once visited some hermits, and after the usual prayer we exchanged greetings and sat down.  After we had talked with them, we got ready to go, and asked once again for prayers to be … Continue reading →

Some brothers asked Macarius, “How do you pray?”  He said, “There is no need to talk much in prayer. Reach out your hands often, and say, ‘Lord, have mercy on me, as you will and as you know.’ But if … Continue reading →

Book 12 brings us to the core of early Christian spirituality. The brothers asked Agatho, “Abba, which virtue in our way of life needs more effort to acquire?”  He said to them, “I may be wrong, but I think nothing … Continue reading →

They used to say about Poemen that when he was ready to go out to the meeting for prayer, he first sat by himself for an hour in self-examination, and then he went (11:22) If we ask the saints of … Continue reading →

We sometimes caricature what we don’t understand.  That’s what happens when we mistakenly take a concern for our mortality and the reality of eternity to mean “pie in the sky in the sweet by and by.” Sober living—what we’re calling … Continue reading →

Book eleven of The Desert Fathers is entitled “Sober Living.”  It’s not a term we use a lot today, but it embodies an essential element in the Christian spiritual life. The best synonym for it today would be “Singular Living”–or … Continue reading →

We are leaving out so much in our exploration of The Desert Fathers.  If you have not yet purchased a copy of this ancient, classic text, I hope you will.  You can use it for the rest of your life … Continue reading →

Today we explore one of the “main quotations” from the early Christians—St. Anthony’s counsel to a stressed-out hunter (see 10:2). The hunter was shocked that someone so exemplary as Anthony would appear to be relaxing with some of the brothers.  … Continue reading →

We move into Book Ten of The Desert Fathers, which is the longest book (chapter) of all.  It is entitled, “Discretion.” The book begins with this saying,  Anthony said, “Some wear out their bodies by fasting; but because they have … Continue reading →

The matter of non-judgment is an extremely difficult one to practice properly.  We tend to fall off either on the side of naive latitude or the side of excessive condemnation.  The principle of non-judgment avoids the extremes. Some of you … Continue reading →

When we move into Book Nine of The Desert Fathers, we continue our exploration of a spiritual life that is deeply challenging.  The Book deals with the theme of non-judgement. One of the great ironies of our time is that … Continue reading →

We end our brief look at Book Eight of The Desert Fathers with this interesting comment by Syncletica. If you put wax in front of a fire it melts; and if you pour vain praises on the soul it goes … Continue reading →

We continue our review of Book Eight of The Desert Fathers, “Nothing Done for Show.”  The following story reveals another aspect of the danger of living by appearances. The monks praised a brother to Antony.  Antony went to him and … Continue reading →

Today, we move into Book Eight of The Desert Fathers, a chapter entitled “Nothing Done For Show.” “They said of Arsenius and Theodore of Pherme that they hated fame and praise more than anything.  Arsenius avoided people likely to praise … Continue reading →

I hope you have been able to purchase a copy of The Desert Fathers: The Sayings of the Early Christian Monks (edited by Benedicta Ward) for yourself.  If so, you realize how much I am leaving out by only selecting … Continue reading →

Fortitude is not only about strength, it is also about endurance. A hermit went to abba Theodore, complaining about anxiety.  Theodore asked him, “Tell me, how many years have you been a monk?”  He said, “Eight.”  Theodore said, “I’ve been … Continue reading →

Today we begin our examination of Book Seven in The Desert Fathers.  It is probably no accident that these early monks followed the sayings on possessing nothing with sayings on fortitude.  It takes all the strength the grace of God … Continue reading →

Our look at “possessing nothing” in Book 6 of The Desert Fathers brings extreme challenges into our lives.  We sail our boats on a sea of “things” and it can feel like “running aground” as we begin to divest ourselves … Continue reading →

In a world where you cannot even log on to a website without first having to watch a commercial, Book Six of The Desert Fathers is devastating.  The twenty-two sayings leave us with a “You’ve got to be kidding” feeling, … Continue reading →