On the Desert Fathers, Insight from Thomas Merton, and Drawing on Their Counsel
A Note from Me
I didn’t grow up hearing about the Desert Fathers and Mothers. In the Evangelical world where I was raised, their names were mostly absent. It was only later, through my friend Chris Hall, that I was introduced to them in any meaningful way. I remember being struck by the strangeness of it all—men and women leaving the cities, going into the desert, and giving themselves to prayer and silence. They weren’t simply running away from the world; they were running toward a deeper life with Christ. In many ways, they preserved the spirit of early Christianity while also pioneering a new way of living faithfully in their time.
Not knowing about them felt a little like growing up in America without ever hearing of Benjamin Franklin or Thomas Jefferson. Their wisdom has shaped so much of the Christian tradition, and yet I knew nothing about them.
Truthfully, their lives were deeply attractive to me. But I also knew I wasn’t called to the desert. I’m not monastic. Still, I found myself inspired by them. Their lives reminded me that following Christ always requires intention. It means living in a way that often pushes against the assumptions and rhythms of the culture.
That’s what they were doing in the desert.
And that’s what I am trying to learn to do in my home, my neighborhood, and my community.
Not very successfully, if I’m honest. Most of the time I feel like a phony. But I keep trying anyway. Maybe it’s possible to make a little monasticism among all these malls and minivans.
A Voice from the Christian Tradition
“What the Fathers sought most of all was their own true self, in Christ... The sought a way to God that was uncharted and freely chosen, not inherited from others who had mapped it out beforehand...
The Desert Fathers later acquired a reputation for fanaticism because of the stories that were told about their ascetic feats by indiscreet admirers. They were indeed ascetics: but when we read their own words and see what they themselves thought about life, we find that they were anything but fanatics. They were humble, quiet, sensible people, with a deep knowledge of human nature and enough understanding of the things of God to realize that they knew very little about Him.”
—Thomas Merton, The Wisdom of the Desert
A Question to Carry
Have you ever drawn on the Desert Fathers and Mothers for guidance in your spiritual life?
Keep listening to the old voices,
—Jon
P.S. Remember, there were many Desert Mothers too. Their lives were also full of Christ.
