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5 Wise Desert Streams

The wisdom of ancient Christian desert-dwellers, these fathers of asceticism still glistens as water in the sun.

Christian monasticism was birthed in the fourth century. It was first forged into a fresh Christian expression in Egypt, Syria, Palestine and Arabia. But the greatest center was Egypt, the home of hermits and monks.

These early ascetes have survived in their words, bequeathing a legacy that remains as fresh to the modern soul as when first spoken. Their righteousness flows on as a Christian shade to each day and a humble pillow for each night.

Each one will be like a shelter from the wind and a refuge from the storm, like streams of water in the desert and the shadow of a great rock in a thirsty land. (Isaiah 32:2)

Five small streams flowing from an ancient middle-east desert:

  1. I have often repented of having spoken, but never of having been silent. ~ Abba Arsenius
  2. Strive with all your might to bring your interior activity into accord with God, and you will overcome exterior passions. ~ Abba Arsenius
  3. Whoever hammers a lump of iron, first decides what he is going to make of it, a scythe, a sword, or an axe. Even so we ought to make up our minds what kind of virtue we want to forge or we labor in vain. ~ St. Anthony
  4. God has forgiven you. Be careful not to judge someone before God has done so. ~ anon
  5. This is the great work of a man: to always take the blame for his own sins before God, and expect temptation to his last breath. ~ St Anthony

The Last Word:

Blessed are all those who wait upon the Lord.

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