September 20 2010
Hi All!
Welcome to my blog! It has taken me some time to get the feel for what a blog is all about…part prophetic inspiration, part wisdom on the journey and part, as a good friend of mine says…verbal diarrhea (not my words, ,my friends…but he does have potty mouth some of the time.) I guess after having written a book that needed three editors to look at it over a full 12 months I began to imagine secret hidden editors hiding in the trees waiting to leap upon my thoughts, correct my spelling, and let me know that my layout and emotional content are all wrong…However (and editors don’t think sentences should be started with however however) I have watched for a few weeks now and I haven’t spotted any editors…so I think that it is safe to come out and just have verbal ______ and let loose. (and editors hate the three …s by the way – let’s just say it is my trap to draw them out of hiding!)
Today I would like to talk about desert fathers. Not just old guys that live in deserts mind you…but old guys that live in deserts that often have something to say. Some, I would assume went mad and those sayings were not recorded…but the sayings that were must have been from men that met God, and could put a few good sentences together that are worth repeating. (often while eating just bread over an entire lifetime) Now I realize some of you may be thinking, “What is a desert father?” – think Yoda but bigger, not green, and knowing Jesus. (And yes you are going to have to put up with my humor for awhile as the editors are not here to keep me in line – I’m free, free, heeheehoohaahahaha). The classical desert father period would be around 325 a.d. to about 600 a.d. or so…(but I am not looking that up…)However (ahh the freedom of starting a sentence with ‘however’ and using ‘ instead of “- as well as not looking things up such as exact dates feels goooood…) it may be good to know that the desert fathers were men of conscience that looked upon the newly Christianized Roman empire and thought “life was better under persecution” and set off to find some. And the desert seemed to be a good place to start…and I am sure that is true for some…However ( : )) the desert fathers for the most part were people who just wanted to encounter God, they didn’t want fame or recognition, and they didn’t want to run fancy churches or work for the new popular religion of the empire, Christianity, they wanted to encounter God…and they set off for a quiet place to do it…which may surprise you after all of my kidding around – is a most biblical thing to do. The prophets and fathers of old spent much time in the desert – Isaac would go out alone to a place to meet with God, (Gen 24:63). Jeremiah asking for solitude (Jer 9:2, 15:7) as well as proclaiming “It is good to await the salvation of God in silence (Lam 3:26).” The prophets would go to the high places (1 Sam 10), Moses was led into the desert, as well as Elijah, and Jonah, etc…In the New Testament we find this search for solitude continued with John the Baptist (Luke 1:80)…and even Jesus himself would often leave the crowds and go off and pray (Mt 14:23)…because of such verses and life testimonies of so many in the scriptures the desert fathers thought they were in Holy company to work out their salvation in quiet solitude. In fact this drawing into the desert for a life of prayer and contemplation was the start of the calling of Monks and Nuns that of course still persists into our time.
Now, after this somewhat long winded intro with more rabbit trails then real information (that is to through the editors off…) I will present to you some of the sayings and experiences of the desert fathers…and I would imagine for the next little while I will be adding a few more here and there as I ponder them with the Lord myself. (As well as many different topics and further rabbit trails to throw off pesky editors)
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One of the brethren asked an elder saying: Father do the holy men always know when the power f God is in them? And the elder replied: No, they do not know it, for once a very great hermit had a disciple who did something wrong and the hermit said to him: Go and drop dead: Instantly the disciple fell down dead and the hermit, over-come with terror, prayed to the Lord, saying: Lord Jesus Christ, I pray thee to bring my disciple back to life and from now on I will be careful what I say. Then right away the disciple was restored to life.
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A brother in Scete happened to commit a fault, and the elders assembled, and sent for Abbot Moses to join them (not Moses from the bible)…He, however, did not want to come. The priest sent him a message, saying: Come, the community of the brethren is waiting for you, So he arose and started off, And taking with him a very old basket full of holes, he filled it with sand, and carried it behind him, The elders came out to meet him and said: What is this, Father? The elder replied: My sins are running out behind me, and I do not see them, and today I come to judge the sins of another! They, hearing this, said nothing to the brother but pardoned him.
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A certain brother came to Abbot Silvanus at Mount Sinai, and seeing the hermits at work he exclaimed: Why do you work for the bread that perisheth? Mary has chosen the best part, namely to sit at the feet of the Lord without working. Then the Abbot said to his disciple Zachary: Give the brother a book and let him read, and put him in an empty cell (a prayer room, cave, or hut). At the ninth hour the brother who was reading began to look out to see if the Abbot was not going to call him to dinner, and sometime after the ninth hour he went himself to the Abbot and said: Did the brethren not eat today, Father? Oh yes, certainly, said the Abbot, they just had dinner. Well, said the brother, why did you not call me? You are a spiritual man, said the elder, you don’t need this food that perisheth. We have to work but you have chosen the best part. You read all day, and get along without food, hearing this the brother said, Forgive me, Father, And the elder said: Martha is necessary to Mary for it was because Martha worked that Mary was able to be praised.
So these are some of the things I am pondering with the Lord this week. I hope they strike a cord in your heart too!
Mur : )