Originally posted May 19, 2014, at The Benedictine Lutheran. Republished with permission of the author.
The lives of the ancient Desert Fathers and Mothers seems highly peculiar to 21st century people. A life defined by silence and prayer? Who has time for that? Who would even want to do that?
Certainly, this kind of life is not for everyone. God calls people to a variety of vocations in life, and for most of us, those vocations revolve around “regular” jobs or family life. Contrary to modern reason, though, there are people who are called to live a life of silence and prayer now. But, instead of living in the deserts of ancient Egypt, they live around us in houses or apartments, both in cities and in rural settings.
A modern-day Desert Mother is Sister Verena Schiller, an Anglican who lives a solitary life in northern Wales. She wrote a book about her life, and it contains this passage on why God has called some to solitary lives of prayer and silence in the midst of modernity:
In our twentieth/twenty-first century western world, we no longer live in a society like that of early antiquity when almost all were believers of some sort and lived in a climate where faith in God or gods was almost universal. To be a believing active Christian in our age was in itself becoming more rare. And yet, and yet … the thirst for things spiritual was very much in evidence, a thirst for a meaning to life beyond the excessive materialism and need for instant gratification so prevalent in our society at present. Many feel as though they are staring into an abyss. Deep in the human psyche lies the longing for whatever we may mean by ‘God’ and many harbour a great fear that death might mean ‘extinction.’ Deeper still lies this search for meaning. For me it seemed that at least in part, the renewal of the eremitic life (life of a recluse in the desert tradition) in recent years was an aspect of this thirst. There was a sense of urgency that in a world that was changing so rapidly and seemingly intent on destroying itself, the times were urgent. The counter-cultural intent of monasticism needed to regain its cutting edge. So my move into solitude began to take shape.” (From p. 7 of “A Simplified Life” by Verena Schiller).
Some may ask: “But what do people like Sister Verena do, really? Aren’t they just seeking an escape from the world?” My response is that they are living more deeply in the world than those of us who supposedly live in the “real world” can possibly imagine. While we are working, playing, eating or sleeping, there are modern day Desert Fathers and Mothers praying for you, me and the whole world. They take no breaks or vacations from prayer. It defines who they are – they could no more give up prayer than you or I could give up breathing.
The church, particularly in the Western world, is in the midst of a transition, and we are struggling to figure out our place within a society where belief in God is an afterthought at best. As a part of that transition, I believe the church needs to identify and lift up those people, few as they may be, who have a calling to live a life defined by prayer. Their prayers will lift up those of us who struggle, who hurt, or who do not know of God’s presence in their daily lives. So, as they pray for us, we should pray for those called to that life as well, that God may give them the strength to pray without ceasing for the church, the world, and all of creation.
