Pastor Angie's In-Spire-ations April 2017

I started this year doing something I have wanted to do for some time.  I took a class through the Rueben Job Spiritual Formation Center at Garrett.  The topic was the Desert Elders.  I have mentioned them before, but I want to say a little more about them.  They have significantly shaped my faith over the past 20 years.

These men and women lived in the early centuries although their legacy continues in modern day monks.  Their culture had become rough and they struggled to live out their faith in the midst of the chaotic environment. They left everything behind to go live in the desert.  Some of them lived in caves while others even dug holes in the ground in which to live.  On the surface, it looks like they are running AWAY from something, doesn’t it?  Look again…but this time imagine them running TO God.

They had little written word so they spent hours memorizing scripture.  They prayed without ceasing.  They listened for God intently.  In doing this, they gained great wisdom. In time, people began to go to the desert to seek out that wisdom.  Women went, too, but they had to be cautious.  Some cut off their hair and disguised themselves as men so they could get close enough to hear the wisdom of the Abbas. They wanted to know God more deeply, too.  Eventually, the women did begin to venture out on their own and after a while, they began to have followers.  These little bands of men and women lived ascetic (very plain and simple) lives spending all of their waking hours in conversation with God.

Now I don’t plan to go live in a hole or a cave, but I do spend time listening for God every day and I have learned how to see God in the very ordinary things throughout my day because of that time.  These early travelers were not running from society as much as they were running to God.  I run to God in my quiet time.  I run to God in worship and in song.  I run to God in the faces of young people preparing for the adventure of a lifetime.  I run to God in the faces of people who have been traveling this journey a fair bit longer than I have done.  I run to Christ who is my hiding place.  “You are My Hiding Place” by Selah goes like this:

You are my hiding place
You always fill my heart
With songs of deliverance
Whenever I am afraid
I will trust in You.

Christ gave us the ultimate deliverance.  I challenge you to seek out solitude and silence as these early Desert Fathers (Abbas) and Desert Mothers (Ammas) did.  In the midst of the everyday things of life, remember them and pray for the ability to see God and hear God’s voice. Let God fill your heart with songs of deliverance this Easter and always. 

Pastor Angie