I am trying to learn a new word. Not in the sense of when I was a kid and you had a new vocabulary word and the goal was spelling it correctly or using the “new term” properly. You remember, don’t you? You had an every week assignment where you had to write out definitions and use the “new word” in a sentence, etc., etc. (to be prepared to correctly spell the word on the end of week spelling test). I was pretty good with learning new words in that fashion, but learning to embody a new word or practice a new word, that is a different matter.

At least I am finding it difficult to embody one particular new word I am learning. It is a demanding and relentless concept that for ages I am sure has stumped or tripped up many who have been caught by it’s allure.

Don’t get me wrong this is no mean or nasty word - it is helpful; just downright hard.

The word is a Greek word that was a common word. It had a regular old meaning and I am sure was thrown about regularly back in the day - but that meaning has been infused with fresh and even greater intensity by those Eastern Desert Monks. They also began to use this term regularly as the antidote to so many sins and pitfalls in living out the life of Christ.

Jesus, also, used the word (at least Luke records such in 12.37).

The word means, “be alert” or “be sober!” It means control your attention on the matter at hand. (That alone is a tall order.) As I mentioned though - the monks of the desert infused this with a spiritual bent - giving this word the meaning to focus ones attention solely on God.

This is what I am trying to learn.

This is what I am finding very difficult. To practice this word, this Greek word, Nepsis.

Most mornings I head to the barn to feed and turn out the horses (from mid-Fall through early Spring). It was a cold morning this past winter when I was heading through my routine - I walked the 250 feet from my back door to the barn past the front pasture; I fed the horses their grain; I broke the ice off the watering trough; I put out flakes of hay for the horses to graze on in the front pasture and I was turning my wife’s swedish warmblood out into the front pasture when I heard my wife’s voice (over my iPod) and saw her frantically waving (that by the way was not part of our morning ritual). My wife was trying to get my attention - because apparently as I went through my morning routine I failed to notice the 30 foot tree that had fallen through the fence in our front pasture (25 feet of it, at least, was IN the pasture on the ground).

What, was I blind?

How could I have missed it - once I saw it - I couldn’t see anything else?! I had walked past the fallen tree, I had been in the pasture filling the trough and putting out hay - yet I had never opened my eyes beyond my own footsteps to see what had transpired in the night. Going through the motions with little to no engagement. Unaware and distant from the moment - can you say, “not present.” I wasn’t blind; I was just lacking any awareness and attentiveness to my surroundings (or is that the very definition of being, “blind”).

After that incident, (after coming to terms with, “How didn’t I see that!”) I began to reflect on, how often am I “going through the motions” and how much do I miss?

I am working on living in a more alert fashion. I am trying to slow and to live with a greater appreciation for the present. It is a slow process. It is sort of ironic that next month I am leading a spiritual retreat for folks on this very topic. I think I am learning that God often leads me to such opportunities - not because of what I can offer - but because it is how he can teach me.

I hope to hear and obey the words of Benedict in the Prologue to his Rule:

“However late, then, it may seem, let us rouse ourselves from lethargy. That is what scripture urges on us when it says, the time has come for us to rouse ourselves from sleep. Let us open our eyes to the light that shows us the way to God. Let our ears be alert to the stirring call of his voice crying to us every day: today if you should hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.” [St. Benedict’s Rule, A New Translation for Today, Ampleforth Abbey Press, 1997. p. 11]

Wisdom from the ascetics in the desert from Thomas Merton’s The Wisdom of the Desert.

Some powerful truth(s) about our view of others from hermits!

“One of the elders said: A monk ought not to inquire how this one acts, or how that one lives. Questions like this take us away from prayer and draw us on to backbiting and chatter. There is nothing better than to keep silent.” (p. 74)

“Abbot Moses said: A man ought to be like a dead man with his companion, for to die to one’s friend is to cease to judge him in anything.” (p. 75)

“Once two brethren came to a certain elder whose custom it was not to eat every day. But when he saw the brethren he invited them with joy to dine with him, saying: Fasting has its reward, but he who eats out of charity fulfills two commandments, for he sets aside his own will and he refreshes his hungry brethren.” (p. 77)

Today’s wisdom comes from Thomas Merton’s The Wisdom of the Desert. Two thoughts that seem to be rightly connected as they follow one another in Merton’s anthology.

Abbot Ammonas said that he had spent fourteen years in Scete praying to God day and night to be delivered from anger. (pg. 33)

Abbot Pastor said: The virtue of a monk is made manifest by temptations. (pg. 34)

Temptations by Michael D. O’Brien

I have been spending a bit more time reading in Benedict’s Rule of late - so rather than pull out a random saying from the Desert Father or Mothers; today we will hear some Benedictine Wisdom. Benedict wrote just a short treatise on his “way of life” that determined “who a person could become.” Benedict’s short, scripture saturated book, The Rule is where we turn today.

In Chapter 7 St. Benedict uses the image of a ladder as a symbol of unity and integration - or “harmony.”

Here it unites earth and heaven, standing firmly on the ground (community) and offering access to God. The two sides of this ladder are the body and the soul. [The ladder] is pulling body and soul together, recognizing the place of both, using the two together, that makes the ascent to God possible.

For a quite absurd image - picture a ladder that is lopsided with the rungs trying to pull together the two sides of a ladder that are out of harmony and not running parallel! This is the danger of neglecting our Body for the sake of the Soul or vice versa (preference to mind over emotions or head over heart).

Benedict calls us to harmony in our way of life. “That are minds are in harmony with our voices.” (or our hearts, or our hands, or our feet, or our ears, etc.). May our lives produce a beautiful harmonic music to the Glory of God.

O Father, may we find this kind of integration where the message of Your Son the Christ, that we understand with our mind, seep into our everyday way of life: in our speech, relationships, work, play, attitudes, and values.

Amen.

Today’s weekly wisdom is again culled from Thomas Merton’s great little book, The Wisdom of the Desert. It is a delight to peruse and too often hits squarely between the eyes. The thing that again and again touches me is that the wisdom of these ascetics (people living difficult lives; living in poverty; and often alone for great stretches by choice) is more often than not the offer of grace. Oh, how we need to learn to be gracious. Oh, how I need to learn to be gracious - I am often willing to look at my life through the eyes of grace; but when it comes to the other the lenses of judgement often skews my view.

“An elder was asked by a certain soldier if God would forgive a sinner. And he said to him: Tell me, beloved, if your cloak is torn, will you throw it away? The soldier replied and said: No. I will mend it and put it back on. The elder said to him: If you take care of your cloak, will God not be merciful to His own image?” [Merton p. 76]

And one more today:

“One of the brethren had sinned, and the priest told him to leave the community. So then Abbot Bessarion got up and walked out with him, saying: I too am a sinner!” [Merton p. 40]

Project Renovation is a ministry venture from Lancaster Bible College led by Rick Rhoads, that I have had the privilege of serving with. In my opinion Rick and his team are an exemplary regional ministry and doing a great job serving, loving and caring for youth workers in Central PA, MD, and DE! There primary focus is the development of the youth worker - so through prayer, spiritual retreats and equipping conferences The Renovation Project attempts to fulfill its purpose. The times I have had the pleasure of serving with “the Project” I have been overwhelmed by the care and hospitality they have demonstrated. So it is no surprise that I am looking forward to the youth conference that Project Renovation is hosting on Saturday October 18! Mike King, president of YouthFront, will be the keynote presenter addressing the topic of “Presence-Centered Youth Ministry.”

If you are from the mid-atlantic states it may be worth checking out the Presence-Centered Youth Ministry Conference on October 18 (9 AM - 4 PM). It looks like it will be a quality day of training with some good elective options (and it is not very costly)!

I will be teaching a seminar at the conference; I have been preparing it to share at a couple of conferences I will be attending - I am looking forward to presenting what I am learning! I am calling the seminar, “On The Matter of Monks: sketching a youth ministry for today.” (Although in full disclosure - the folks at Lancaster didn’t want to freak people out - so no mention of monks is being made in the advertising! I instead refer to “transformative faith communities” or something like that.) I describe this seminar in the following manner:

In this seminar the participant will consider the history of Christian Monasticism and it’s implications for ministry with and for youth today.

• What is Ancient-Future? (Defining and discussing Key Terms to guide our learning)
• Why Monasticism? (What do Monks have to say to kids, anyway?)
• A Brief History of Christian Monasticism?
• A Monastic Matrix (lessons and qualities of transformative ministry)
• Sketching Youth Ministry for Today
• Q&A

If you happen to come by the conference - please say hello!

A prayer to commemorate this day observing Saint Francis of Assisi. A model of authentic spirituality. A reformer, activist and spiritual mentor to thousands… still impacting our world hundreds of years after he left this world.

Now, wherever we are,
and in every place,
and at every hour,
throughout each time of each day,
may all of us honestly and humbly believe,
holding in our hearts
to love, honor,
adore, serve,
praise, bless,
glorify, exalt,
magnify, and give thanks
to the Most High and Eternal God,
Trinity and Unity.
Amen.

- St. Francis of Assisi

Ahhh - Stability. The virtue of persevering - in this instance persevering in relation to place. This is a much needed piece of wisdom that I need to hear and one for our overly mobile culture. Lord, help me, as Benedict admonishes, to listen (and there is that metaphor of trees - I am seeing a theme in my life!).

“An elder said: Just as a tree cannot bear fruit if it is often transplanted, so neither can a monk bear fruit if he frequently changes his abode.”

(quoted from Thomas Merton’s, The Wisdom of the Desert p. 34)

In light of all my cutting of trees lately this bit of wisdom seemed appropos…

“Ammon questioned Poemen on the subject of the impure thoughts within the heart, and on the subject of vain desire.

Poemen said, ‘Can the axe do any harm unless the woodman is using it? Do not reach out your hands to use those things, and they will do you no harm.’”