Embracing The Desert

[Starets]

One term that has come to me regarding my own vocation is to "embrace the desert". It is a phrase that came to me once, several months ago. I am not sure entirely what it means. I have my own ideas, but they are a bit half baked at the moment.

so, if you were being told to "embrace the desert", what would that mean to you?

[Era Might]

[quote]And there are so many kinds of desert. There is the desert of poverty, the desert of hunger and thirst, the desert of abandonment, of loneliness, of destroyed love. There is the desert of God’s darkness, the emptiness of souls no longer aware of their dignity or the goal of human life. The external deserts in the world are growing, because the internal deserts have become so vast. Therefore the earth’s treasures no longer serve to build God’s garden for all to live in, but they have been made to serve the powers of exploitation and destruction. The Church as a whole and all her Pastors, like Christ, must set out to lead people out of the desert, towards the place of life, towards friendship with the Son of God, towards the One who gives us life, and life in abundance.

--Pope Benedict XVI[/quote]
To lead people out of the desert, you have to go to the desert. Maybe "embrace the desert" means to embrace those who find themselves in the desert and lead them out, whether through prayer (contemplative life) or an active vocation (like Blessed Mother Teresa and the poorest of the poor).

[kafka]

I dont know, but I read this sick book about Saint Anthony of the Desert called "Desert Father" since I was born on his feast day

Check out the description:

Anthony of Egypt, one of the great early saints, was an ascetic who, when Christianity was just another cult threatening the Roman way, spiritually and politically thumbed his nose at authority by retreating to the desert to live as a "society of one." Cowan personalizes Anthony's story, beginning at Anthony's monastery in the eastern Egyptian desert, which houses some of the world's earliest ascetic and mystical literature, and besides Anthony, he examines the saint's great biographer, Athanasius. In addition, Cowan recounts his own relations with Lazarus, who lives on Anthony's mountain and is referred to as the last anchorite. Lazarus helped Cowan better understand his own reasons for seeking desert solitude. As he unfolds his and Lazarus' story, Cowan places Anthony in the context of an ascetic history extending from the pre-Christian monks said to have inhabited caves by the Dead Sea to John Cassian, who introduced asceticism to Europe in the fifth century. Cowan's exposition of Christian spirituality as it was and could now be lived is wholly engrossing.

[url="http://www.amazon.com/Desert-Father-Saint-Anthony/dp/B000VTJUN8/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/104-0557606-1211933?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1200081936&sr=8-1"]http://www.amazon.com/Desert-Father-Saint-...1936&sr=8-1[/url]

it was an awesome book. The author met a man who is considered by some to be one of the last anchorites who lives on Saint Anthony's mountain in Egypt

[MC IMaGiNaZUN]

Jesus was straight up led by the Spirit and went into the desert to contend with Satan.

its not a matter of running into temptations, like going out to a club so you can have some sex drugs and rock and roll...
I think it first of all becomes a decisive moment where we enter a time of deprivation. This would force us to fast. It is in these moments when our fleshly desires seem to explode, so it is in this way we resist temptation. And this should also be done prudently and under the guidance of a director.
I think another aspect of the desert are the times when God gives, where things are very dry. Sometimes God gives us a lot of cheerful consolations, and we feel a whole lot of energy to do all sorts of things for God. However, the desert would typically be the time when we feel apathetic toward God, this a good time to let go of the feelings of consolation and comfort we get from reading the bible or praying the rosary, because faith aint about feelings, and training for war is painful, but it makes you stronger. The desert is a process of liberation which can destroy the faith of lesser men. The desert seperates the boys from the men. The desert is where we die, and God brings us back to life.

need i say more?
shalom
bro mark menegatti osa

[Starets]

Thank you for your responses, gentlemen. They have given me a few things to think about. Thanks for the book suggestion too. My plane leaves for Christ in the Desert in 72 days, 20 hours, 33 minutes. So I probaly shouldnt be buying any books anymore!

Edited January 13, 2008 by Staretz

[Era Might]

[quote name='Staretz' post='1445240' date='Jan 13 2008, 09:12 AM']Thank you for your responses, gentlemen. They have given me a few things to think about. Thanks for the book suggestion too. My plane leaves for Christ in the Desert in 72 days, 20 hours, 33 minutes. So I probaly shouldnt be buying any books anymore![/quote]
Are you visiting or joining?

[Stacey]

I think embracing the desert is also about acknowledging, facing and eventually embracing the desert within. Within all of us there are deserts - great area's of space, emptyness, and lonliness which can be terrifying, as the desert contains all our fears. In the desert there is no where to run, in the desert we will die without sustenance - mental and physical- and the only way to survive it is to lean on God, to learn to love the things we find hard as begin to face them. In religious life - especially the type of monastery you are entering Dunstan - there is no running away from others or ourselves because if we really give ourselves to God there is no where to run.
Outside we can put on the TV or radio, play on the PC, go to see a film, read a novel or go to see friends - in other words, there are lots of ways of avoiding the desert - in the monastery we can't do this so we have to face things. The only way to stay is to embrace things and i think God does give us the strength and that we in turn then become stronger through the struggle and perseverance. Like Jesus did.
I also think that the people we have been given to live with in the particular community strengthen and guide us in the desert, especially the ones we find hardest to get on with. We can't just ignore them or find someone else - the sister or brother we sit with may annoy us - but they are also strengthening us - like a good work out it hurts - but don't we feel good afterwards?
Thats my take on it anyway Dunstan - embrace and learn to love who you are as God loves you - wow what a challenge - as it's only when we know and love ourselves that we can be there and really know and love others so naturally love God more. Emrace the desert - like walking into the darkness and trusting that God is there with you.
I am excited for you, enjoy these days, God Bless you, Pax Adele.

Edited January 13, 2008 by Stacey

[Starets]

[quote name='Era Might' post='1445257' date='Jan 13 2008, 12:31 PM']Are you visiting or joining?[/quote]
Joining
er ...

[Stacey]

Hi again, i spoke to my novice mistress about this one as the phrase really interested me, she reminded me that in the desert is not empty is only seems to be so, but that it actually contains many wonderful things including springs of water. The desert is not dead, it is vibrantly alive. I love this idea, hope it helps, Adele.

[Starets]

I am working on a blog post about my thinking so far. It already includes your Novice Mistress' point. Thank you all for your contributions. They have started my own creative juices flowing.

[Gratia Plena]

An interesting phrase!

I associate the desert with the place where monasteries began. At first some people went to the desert to fully concentrate on God alone and nothing else. Soon people began to group around those who were living this holy life, and they began to form small communities, and from this the first monasteries began. Or at least, that's what I've been told. So perhaps this phrase means to embrace the life in which you fully concentrate on God, alone in the desert.

Also, it reminds me of the 40 days that Jesus spent in the desert. He faced Satan and he faced hunger and thirst. In other words; he really got tested. That is another interpretation of your phrase; maybe you have to embrace the fact that you will really get tested soon, and that you have to believe in yourself and really believe that God would never give you any task that would be too daunting for you, however daunting it might appear to you at the time.

The last association I have is a memory from a retreat. We went to a Benedictine monastery with a group of girls, under the leadership of a male teacher, which is why we were placed in the brothers' monastery for the retreat, and only visited the sisters' monastery a few times for church services. One of the brothers talked to us for an hour each day, and we were allowed to ask him anything we wanted. One of the questions was: Why did he hide himself away from society? Wouldn't he be a far better person if he stayed within society and helped out as much as he could?
He answered by saying that he felt that monks were like people on a mountain in a desert, calling out to God from a place that is very barren, very pure and very close to him. And they would be calling out and praying in the name of all those people who were elsewhere, too busy living their lives to be able to pray for themselves. In his opinion this made him feel like he was much more of service on the mountain in the desert than he could ever be in the midst of society.
In that light, maybe your phrase means that you have to embrace the fact that you can be utterly helpful, even though you are retreating from society's hubbub.

Just some of my associations. I hope it can be of some assistance to you. What a beautiful and interesting phrase to meditate upon!

[Gratia Plena]

An interesting phrase!

I associate the desert with the place where monasteries began. At first some people went to the desert to fully concentrate on God alone and nothing else. Soon people began to group around those who were living this holy life, and they began to form small communities, and from this the first monasteries began. Or at least, that's what I've been told. So perhaps this phrase means to embrace the life in which you fully concentrate on God, alone in the desert.

Also, it reminds me of the 40 days that Jesus spent in the desert. He faced Satan and he faced hunger and thirst. In other words; he really got tested. That is another interpretation of your phrase; maybe you have to embrace the fact that you will really get tested soon, and that you have to believe in yourself and really believe that God would never give you any task that would be too daunting for you, however daunting it might appear to you at the time.

The last association I have is a memory from a retreat. We went to a Benedictine monastery with a group of girls, under the leadership of a male teacher, which is why we were placed in the brothers' monastery for the retreat, and only visited the sisters' monastery a few times for church services. One of the brothers talked to us for an hour each day, and we were allowed to ask him anything we wanted. One of the questions was: Why did he hide himself away from society? Wouldn't he be a far better person if he stayed within society and helped out as much as he could?
He answered by saying that he felt that monks were like people on a mountain in a desert, calling out to God from a place that is very barren, very pure and very close to him. And they would be calling out and praying in the name of all those people who were elsewhere, too busy living their lives to be able to pray for themselves. In his opinion this made him feel like he was much more of service on the mountain in the desert than he could ever be in the midst of society.
In that light, maybe your phrase means that you have to embrace the fact that you can be utterly helpful, even though you are retreating from society's hubbub.

Just some of my associations. I hope it can be of some assistance to you. What a beautiful and interesting phrase to meditate upon!

[Starets]

One term that has come to me regarding my own vocation is to "embrace the desert". It is a phrase that came to me once, several months ago. I am not sure entirely what it means. It is something that I have to start struggling with defining.

I asked the question of definition on the Catholic forum "Phatmass" and had a few ideas. I plan on developing and expanding upon those ideas in my reply here.

So, let's start with "The Desert". It would appear that there are two kinds of deserts: interior deserts and exterior deserts. There are metaphorical deserts as well, but they overlap with both interior and exterior deserts. Consequently, I cannot really call them a separate category.

Once, a good 20 years ago now, I described myself as a desiccated planet full of dead cities filled with rotting corpses. I realise that that is not exactly a positive image. So much for positive confession, right? Over the last 20 years or so the rains have returned and a new, greater internal civilization has replaced the old. There are still, however, vast internal metaphorical deserts.

These would be the internal deserts of sin, abandonment, loneliness, and twisted love of which Pope Benedict spoke in his inaugural sermon. These can be the scariest kinds of deserts to embrace.

The next most terrifying are the deserts caused by human interactions. In thinking of this, I thought of the Eurythmics tune "Sweet Dreams". Part of the lyrics say: "Some of them want to use you / Some of them want to get used by you / Some of them want to abuse you / Some of them want to be abused". How many deserts of human interaction are described right there? BDSM. Recreational use of sex, drugs and each other. These are external metaphorical deserts so large in scope and severity that they make the Sahara look like a sandbox and the Atacama look like a rain forest.

Real, physical deserts can be inhospitable and forbidding. This natural inhospitality may be why desert cultures value hospitality so highly. Their lives may literally depend on it. But, unlike metaphorical deserts, real deserts look after their own. There are fewer survival skills needed for life in a real desert. The metaphorical interior and exterior deserts are far deadlier.

The first image of Christ in the Desert that has really stayed with me was a week or so into my first stay, in October 2003. The leaves had fallen from the trees. It was a clear night, with a Full Moon over the canyon. I was sleepless so I headed outside. And into a view so beautiful it hurt. The moonlight made everything look black and white. Everything was etched in stark relief. The cliffs of the canyon seemed that much more high, that much more strong, that much more solid. The only sound was the occasional breeze being sifted through the trees. It is that image of starkness that has stayed with me to this day, even though in summer the canyon is very green and teems with life.

That is the easy part of the question. The Desert isn't just a geographical location that receives very little rainfall. It is also a metaphorical location where temptations, trials, and spiritual battles take place. These temptations, trials, and battles need not take place in physical deserts. They can also take place in the context of one's interior life or one's exterior relations with others.

It is by means of those battles, trials, and temptations that we "embrace the desert". It is both a place of testing and a place of supplication; a crucible and a ciborium.

The deserts of Egypt and Asia Minor were among the places where monasticism had its beginnings in the first place. For example, St. Anthony of Egypt and St. Basil of (I think) Cappadocia, were early ascetics associated with early monasticism. So by Embracing the Desert, I am embracing the monastic and ascetic life in the first place.

That is not all that "Embracing the Desert" means. More than one Vocations Director has told me that the hardest part of monastic life is the fact that you live and work with the same people 24X7. He has a point.

Here on the "outside", it is easy to avoid Mr. Needsacluebyfour. If it is online, then the irritant can be placed on ignore. Problem "solved"; irritant removed. But spiritual growth does not take place. But, it is much different once you are in the "desert" of the monastic enclosure. In a large community with multiple apostolates, you can put off dealing with Br. Needsacluebyfour, but you still have to deal with him eventually. In a cloistered contemplative community, there is no getting away from Br. Needsacluebyfour. One thing to keep in mind that your Br. Sanctimonioustwit might think you are his Br. Slackinglittleloser. And I need to have the humility to admit the possibility that I might be the one who is in need of the cluebyfour. You have to face the problem, and the problem has to face you.

A cloistered monk and his community do not exist in isolation. It is not a simple withdrawl from the world. It is a withdrawl from the world in order to more fully engage it in a detatched fashion. By means of this detachment, it is easier to see more clearly the trials, traps, and temptations that lie in the external deserts of interpersonal relations. This is another way in which I can "embrace the desert", through intercessory prayer. A monk who is not cloistered can also "embrace the desert" through their external apostolates. Neither the cloistered nor the noncloistered monastic community exist in isolation. The only distinction is the means through which the "desert" can be "embraced".

I think that easily the harshest type of desert I am called to embrace is the desert within. There is where the true battleground is. Withdrawing into a physical desert or some other wilderness can help cut down on distractions. That will give the fight more clarity.

Because when you are alone with God you are also alone with yourself. If you have freed yourself from distractions, then you are faced with the naked fury of your own interior desert. Abandonment. Sin. The Flesh. The things you did that you ought not to have done, and the things you left undone that you ought to have done. If you cannot embrace that desert when you are faced with it, there will be no help for you.

so, "Embrace the Desert" means to embrace all aspects of the monastic vocation, with all of its struggles and all of its trials.

Bring. It. On.