want to be blissed-out?

This entry will begin a series of entries reflecting on the tales of the fourth century Desert Mothers and Fathers. These women and men went to the deserts of Egypt, Syria and Palestine to practice their Christian faith during the time when Christianity was becoming the faith of the Roman Empire. To put it differently, Christianity was becoming Christendom. These desert dwellers seemed to move in a different direction as they prayed, worked, and taught those who came out to seek their wisdom and insight. Their stories continue to challenge and inspire others who seek to life lives faithful to the Way of Christ today.


It was said of abba John the Dwarf that one day he said to his elder brother, 'I should like to be free of all care, like the angels who do not work, but ceaselessly offer worship to God.' So he took leave of his brother and went away into the desert.

After a week he came back to his brother. When he knocked on the door he heard his brother say, 'Who are you?' before he opened it. He said, 'I am John, your brother.' But he replied, 'John has become an angel and henceforth is no longer among men.' Then John besought him, saying, 'It is I.'

However, his brother did not let him in but left him there in distress until morning. Then, opening the door, he said to him, 'You are a man and you must once again work in order to eat.' Then John made a prostration before him, saying, 'Forgive me.'

(This story is from Daily Readings with the Desert Fathers, edited by Benedicta Ward SLG, Springfield: Templegate Publishers, 1988.)


I remember my first visit to a monastery. I expected serene, quiet, still, praying monks. They were there, yes, but in some moments these same brothers were also boisterous, hard-laboring, playing, moody monks. They reminded me very much of congregations I have been a part of, and they reminded me sometimes of my family. Their life together involves deep prayer and doses of stillness, silence and solitude, but it also includes hard work - sometimes tedious and monotonous work - and the day-to-day, mundane decision making that easily fills the waking hours of our lives.

None of the great spiritual paths in this world promise a blissed-out release from the quotidian labors of life. If you meet a teacher, a pastor or priest who promises you such an angelic escape, it might be best to run the other way!

The Way of Jesus, like other great spiritual paths in this world, calls us into a deeper, more wakeful engagement with ourselves, our fellow human beings, and the work we are each given to do. When Jesus invited those first disciples to follow him he asked them to "fish for men," which they soon found out meant touching lepers, comforting the grieving, eating at tax collector's tables, and getting into some rather sticky situations with the religious and political powers of that day. They had to work at being disciples.

Even when the disciples got an affirming glimpse of the deep, eternal and expansive sea of love that Jesus embodied - such as in that moment of transfiguration on the mountaintop - Jesus asked them to take that love right back into the messy demands of life.

We are not angels. Thank God we are human beings! Bless you in your labors, your loves and your journey this day.