I was reading Thomas Merton’s book, The Wisdom of the Desert recently when I came across these words describing the desert fathers of the fourth century A.D. While we tend to view these fourth-century hermits as kooks, their withdrawal to the solitude of the desert reflects a much-needed vision among Christians in our world today.
“Why did they do this?” asks Merton. Because he continues, “Society - which meant pagan society, limited by the horizons and prospects of ‘life in this world’ - was regarded by them as a shipwreck from which each individual man had to swim for his life.” (p.3)
We may disagree with a Christianity that withdraws completely from the world. After all, Jesus encourages us to be “in the world but not of the world.” At the same time, it seems pretty obvious to me that there are many today who claim the name of Christ and live with both feet planted firmly in this world.
Like the Baptist deacon, I heard about a few years ago who attended a New Year’s bowl game in New Orleans, casting himself headlong into the debauchery of this otherwise incredible southern city. When confronted about his behavior by a young man among the group attending the football game, he said, “What happens in New Orleans, stays in New Orleans.”
One of the reasons I have reserved Mondays for posts on the Christian mystics is because they provide a needed spiritual perspective for a Christianity that is so easily immersed in the thinking and ways of this world, a Christianity that is more reason-based than spiritually-minded, more worldly-wise than child-like in faith. “When I am weak then I am strong,” is Paul’s assessment of how God’s power works in us. We are “jars of clay” carrying the life and Spirit of Christ in us to “show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.”
Sadly, not this is not the guiding principle I see at work in much of the church today.
Could it be that God called many of those fourth-century hermit-mystics out of the world and into the desert to serve as examples for those caught up in the Roman Empire’s new religion, Christianity, which began with Constantine’s Edict of Milan and was made official in 380 A.D. by the emperor Theodosius? If you can’t beat ‘em, co-opt them!
The fact is that large numbers of people left the pagan cities, traveling into the desert to hear these early mystics teach. And while some became hermits themselves, many others returned to the cities with a new perspective and a new power, a power that appeared foolish to the world but was, in fact, a witness to God’s strength found in weakness, God’s wisdom seen in foolishness.
We need more Christian hermits today. No, I’m not talking about living in some secluded place with nobody else around. But I am suggesting that we need more followers of Jesus who take the time to withdraw from the everyday world around them and turn their hearts and minds to God.
Why don’t you try it and see for yourself the difference it makes? Leave the cell phone, music, television, and all the myriad distractions in your life. Learn to be still and know the presence of God. He’s waiting for you above and beyond the distractions that blind our eyes to His ways and shut our ears to His voice.
In Christ,
Dan
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There is something to be said about the appeal of getting away from the world — at least for a time. One of my friends is a pastor in the Dallas area and does this at least every two years at a monastery in New Mexico and says it does wonders for his spiritual life. I had two days alone in the most beautiful mountains in Germany in November. I hope to have a week somewhere in the mountains later this year or next year to spend a good amount of time in several contemplation and meditation practices. I've received much from natural contemplation and lectio divina. My focus has been on the glory of God. I greatly look forward to going further in contemplation and meditation and seeing more of his glory.
I haven't read this book by Merton. I did read his Seeds of Contemplation. I was quite concerned with his mixing Eastern meditation equally with Christian meditation. After that I listened to Nicholas Buxton's version of Wisdom in the Desert a couple of years ago and had the same concern. Their teaching on asceticism clearly shows the influence from Greek Stoics. This makes sense as Origen was their main influence and he, in turn, was influenced a good deal by the Greek Stoics. Buxton reports a few of the Desert Fathers were also influenced by Buddhists.