Before we begin, here’s a quick reminder of the plan. We will start with a question, or if necessary, a short paragraph to introduce the theme. Then we will present a quote from Henri Nouwen’s epilogue in Yushi Nomura’s book, Desert Wisdom (Orbis Books, 1982). Today’s quote will be longer than most. After reading the quote, we will present one or two stories from the desert fathers from Nomura’s book or from Benedicta Ward’s The Sayings of the Desert Fathers: An Alphabetical Collection (Cistercian Publications, 1975). Today is “bonus story day.” You get three quick stories or sayings from the desert fathers. And then, we will close with a few questions to ponder. With that squarely in place, let’s begin.
Why would anyone run off into the desert in search of a true and deep spirituality?
Consider this. During the years when Christianity was outlawed by the Roman Empire, many Christ-followers were martyred for the sake of the kingdom. These believers willingly gave up their lives for their faith. But in 313, Constantine the Great stopped all forms of state persecution and soon made Christianity the official religion throughout the Empire. Many people in the church at that time believed this was great news, but others saw something dark lurking in it. Yes, the church was no longer being persecuted, but it was also losing its more powerful witness to the world—their willingness to die for their faith. This sent the church looking for a new way to witness to its world, and they found it in something equally powerful. If they could not die for Jesus, they could die to their own selves. If they could not physically die for Jesus, they could die to the world by escaping into the desert.
Henri Nouwen writes:
“The first aspect of desert spirituality is that it involves a leaving, a voluntary displacement. As Thomas Merton notes, the desert fathers regarded society as ‘a shipwreck from which every single individual person had to swim for his life. These were men and women who believed that to let oneself drift along, passively accepting the tenets and values of what they knew as society, was purely and simply a disaster.’
The so-called normal society was perceived by the desert fathers and mothers as a place that would make us drown. The only way to survive was to move away from the shipwreck and to a place [beyond its influence]. What is characteristic of the secular city is that it imprisons us in its compulsions. It is a life filled with oughts and musts. You must do this, you ought to do that, you cannot be here or there, and so forth. It is these compulsions which constitute the false self. The false self is the sense of self that is dependent on the response of the milieu. Who am I? I am the one who is liked, admired, respected, hated and so forth. . . .
What is important here is that we cannot simply get out of [this false self] by an act of the will. Our society continues to pull us under. It forces us to participate. You cannot simply say, ‘Oh, I don’t care what other people think of me. I do not let myself be affected by their praise or criticism.’ That is simply not possible. So what is asked of Christ followers is a radical move, a voluntary displacement. This means moving from the ordinary and proper place in order to find our true self.” [emphasis mine]
To illustrate Nouwen’s big ideas, here are three quick stories or sayings from the desert fathers. . . .
“Abba Anthony said: ‘The time is coming when people will be insane, and when they see someone who is not insane, they will attack that person saying: You are insane because you are not like us.’” (Nomura, p. 15)
“A brother asked Abba Matoes: ‘What shall I do? My tongue causes me trouble and whenever I am among people, I cannot control it. What, therefore, shall I do?’ The old man answered him: ‘If you cannot control yourself, go away from people and live alone, for this is a weakness. Those who live together with others ought not to be square, but round, in order to turn toward all.’ Further, the old man said: ‘I live alone, not because of my virtue, but rather because of my weakness. You see, those who life among people are the strong ones.’” (Nomura, p. 107)
“Abba John the Cilician said to the brethren, ‘My sons, in the same way that we have fled from the world, let us equally flee from the desires of the flesh.’” (Ward, p. 105)
Three Questions to Ponder
The desert fathers took sin and temptation very seriously (to keep from it, they abandoned normalcy and moved into the desert). Do we take sin as seriously as we ought? Do we hear Jesus’ call for us to die to self with the same gravity as they did? Should we?
The desert fathers believed their culture was having a significant and harmful impact on their faith. As a result, they moved into the desert. Do you think our culture today is having a similar toxic influence on our faith? In what ways? What should we do about it?
The sins of greed, lust, selfishness, pride, and anger and the cravings for bigger, better, faster, more continue to wreak havoc on our hearts and souls. The desert fathers ran from these sins and escaped into the desert. What should we be doing to combat these same vices?
