My good friend, Dr. Wes Fondren, is a big fan of the desert
fathers. These were early Christians who
sought the solitude of the desert in order to seek G^d with minimal
distractions. These heroes of the faith
are mostly gone, today we are more like dessert fathers, seeking G^d in cakes
and cookies and coffee.
One of the great values of being here ahead of my wife, Brenda, is that I have had a
tiny bit of the desert father solitude.
I only know a few people here, and none very well. I am restricted mostly to where ever my two
feet can carry me, somewhat like the desert fathers. But there is a big difference between
solitude and loneliness. In truth, I
have had a few pangs of loneliness, with Brenda still in the USA helping Anna,
Ben and Jem. But, this has been a unique
opportunity to be alone with G^d. I fear
I have squandered much of the opportunity, but there is still time.
In the USA, I have seldom had time to be alone with
G^d. In fact, that is probably the
leading virtue of deer hunting, it is about the only “alone-time” I have in the
USA. I am an extrovert, and a people
person. I am energized by others. But, 100 years from now, it won’t matter how
energized I was. It will matter the time
I spent with the G^d of the Universe.
L^rd, for me, and for all my dear friends, give us a desire
for time with You alone. L^rd, may we
seek Your face, may we focus on You.
Amen.
Well, as you know, I'm a big fan of the things I'm interested in. Glad to see the desert fathers popping up on the Bishop blog.
ReplyDeleteIt reminds me of your family post a few weeks ago about the different stages of life. With the stage I'm at now, solitude usually means falling asleep. It has been hard on my relationship with God and more difficult than I expected. Should a few minutes alone in the shower really be my richest prayer time of the day?!
Which reminds me, I miss praying with you.
I'm glad to hear you got some solitude--even happier that you eventually got Brenda. :-)