The Desert Fathers

These saints were often sought out by pilgrims for their spiritual counsel and wisdom. From the extensive collections in Greek and Latin of their recorded words, Helen Waddell has here produced her own selection of some of the most memorable and insightful lessons, which together can help provide a plumb line for any one seeking to find his or her spiritual center.

For discussion: The Desert Fathers

1. The most insistent response many modern readers have to the stories of The Desert Fathers is one of alienation or disbelief--a feeling that it is impossible for those who cannot give up worldly responsibilities and things to learn from these saints in the wilderness. What aspects of the lives of the Fathers might be integrated into a busy contemporary life? How do you understand the words of St. Antony, "Fear not this goodness as a thing impossibleÉit hangeth on our own arbitramentÉthe Kingdom of God is within" [p. 6]?

2. The abbot Antony said, "Who sits in solitude and is quiet hath escaped from three wars: hearing, speaking, seeing: yet against one thing shall he continually battle: that is, his own heart." How do hearing, speaking, and seeing distract from the work of the soul? Is it the distraction of the world, or the distraction of our own selves, that is the heart of the problem in the search for spiritual purity and peace?

3. It may seem odd that companionship, or the importance of other people, emerges as one of the most moving aspects of this book. What strikes you about the meeting between Saints Paul and Antony [pp. 37-43]? How does the life of deliberate solitude change our relations with other people? Why, as in the case of the abbot John [pp. 128-9], are the desert monks so extraordinarily attentive to the feelings of others?

4. Does the story of the bishop who marvels at Pelagia's beauty come as a surprise here? The anecdote serves as a caution against spiritual pride and failure to praise the beauty of God's creation. This is a particular danger for those who are able to deny the body and the senses and who pride themselves on their control. How does this lesson balance with the emphasis elsewhere in The Desert Fathers that the senses are not to be indulged? Is there a proper and improper use of the enjoyment that the senses bring?

5. Paradoxically, renunciation is the gateway to the most radical sort of freedom. As M. Basil Pennington writes in his Preface to this edition, "every true seeker is called to the freedom of the children of God," a freedom "to be who we truly are" [p. xvi]. What might this sort of freedom feel like, and how does it differ from the freedom that is usually valued in American life--the freedom supposedly gained through material wealth? How does the true self of spiritual life differ from the false self we have learned to display to the world? What role do solitude and silence play in bringing true freedom and the true self into being?

6. The solitude of The Desert Fathers was based on the desire to live as though "I alone and God are in this world" [p. 113]. As Helen Waddell points out, this radical rejection of the polis, the civil community, went against the Roman civic conscience. If the fathers were concerned only for their personal integrity, for their own spiritual afterlives, how can we reconcile their rejection of the world with the aspects of the Gospels which concern our responsiblity for others? What examples do we find here of ways in which we can care for our own souls and still be in the service of others?

For discussion: The Rule of Saint Benedict

1. The explicit purpose of Benedict's Rule was to teach monks and their superiors how to live the monastic life. Today, nonmonastic readers approach the Rule in order to think about changing their lives. How does such a guidebook compare to bestselling books of counsel like Julia Cameron's The Artist's Way or Stephen R. Covey's The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People? How would you compare the underlying assumptions of today's self-help culture with those of Benedict's philosophy?

2. Benedict places great emphasis on the importance of silence and solitude as well as the importance of the community setting. How do you understand the importance of silence and solitude? How do we learn to become comfortable with silence, and with being more thoughtful and sparing in our use of words? How does Benedict suggest we go about trying to hear the word of God in silence?

3. Norvene Vest has written, "The key to Benedictine spirituality lies in the word 'ordinary.' Benedict insists that no moment is too small for nearness to God. Life in Christ does not necessarily involve something dramatic or heroic. It may simply engage the everyday stuff of my lifeÉ.Whatever my present circumstances, Christ will meet me there."1 She also points out that Benedict's emphasis is not so much on renunciation, as an attentiveness to what we are given. Is there a sense of relief in the realization that God doesn't require the impossible? If you have read The Desert Fathers, how does this concept of the "ordinary" compare to their approach to the spiritual life?

4. What roles do prayer, communal praise (through the singing of the psalms), manual work, and holy reading play in Benedict's approach to God? How, living outside a monastic setting, might you begin to integrate the various parts of the Benedictine way? How might the order and discipline of monastic life be adapted to a busy, worldly, secular life? Notice that we are told, "It is called a rule because it regulates the lives of those who obey it" [p. 7]; does bringing a deliberate sense of order to the ordinary tasks of each day free the mind to contemplate the things of the spirit?

5. Benedict exhorts his readers to "Live in fear of judgment day and have a great horror of hell. Yearn for everlasting life with holy desire" [p. 13]. The concept of hell is more foreign, less visceral and immediate, to those of us who live in a secular society than it was for Christians in Benedict's time. What is your idea of hell? Has the concept of hell in today's world been replaced simply by a fear of death? What is your notion of a punishment that is an incentive to change one's life?

6. What is your response to Benedict's instructions on "The Tools for Good Works"? Notice that much of Benedict's counsel is taken directly from the Gospels and Epistles. What is the Benedictine approach to the opposition between the flesh and the spirit? How important is the concept of physical discipline? How do you interpret Benedict's statement on behavior: "Your way of acting should be different from the world's way; the love of Christ must come before all else" [p. 12]?

Surrendering to God in complete obedience; embracing poverty to free oneself from the claims of this world; taking to heart the Gospel mandate to "Go forth and preach to all nations"; acquiring a deepening love for all God's creatures--these are among the lessons that the adventures of St. Francis and his first companions can provide.

For discussion: The Little Flowers of St. Francis of Assisi

1. St. Francis is famously associated with the birds and animals. Which anecdotes here are particularly informative about his approach to the animals and the natural world? Focusing particularly on his "Canticle of the Sun" [p. 117-18), how would you describe his attitude toward God's creation?

2. What does it mean to be "a fool for Christ"? Which stories most powerfully illustrate this philosophy of St. Francis? Is its purpose largely evangelical and theatrical--the behavior of the "fool" persuades others to follow Christ--or does its purpose have more to do with the individual's relationship with Christ and the effort to abnegate the self?

3. What is the attitude toward the body that was embraced by St. Francis and his followers? Notice that in several stories a cure from illness is shortly followed by a happy death [see p. 101, for instance]. How does St. Francis attempt to instruct us in our attitude toward death?

4. Medieval narratives about the lives of the saints are quite different from what the modern reader is used to, since the medieval author was writing for an audience which believed completely in the miraculous. What aspects of this book seem particularly "naive" in style? What role do visions and miracles play in these tales? In order to be proper readers of this text, do we need to makes ourselves receptive to the miraculous, to suspend our disbelief? Medieval narratives often have a strong moral or didactic purpose. How does the author of these tales attempt to change the lives of his readers? How does he use stories of punishment and reward to warn his readers?

5. The trials of Father John [pp. 104-8] are reminiscent of the story of Job in the Hebrew Bible, in which God tests a seemingly perfect man. What does this story tell us about God's seeming fickleness and cruelty? If you have read Job, how does this story differ from it? In what other tales does the author draw upon precedents from the Bible as a model?

Written by a German monk for his fellow clergy, The Imitation of Christ has appeared in nearly two thousand editions and translations since it was first set in then-newly-invented movable type. Making its message out of hundreds of passages from Scripture, it succeeds in creating a powerful and attractive picture of the spiritual life for readers of any age or era.

For discussion: The Imitation of Christ

1. Like the three previous classics of monastic literature, The Imitation of Christ is a guide to changing our lives and learning to grow closer to Christ in spirit and in deeds. The book opens with a quote and an exhortation: "'Whoever follows Me will not walk in darkness'É.These are Christ's own words by which He exhorts us to imitate His life and His ways" [p. 3]. What does it mean to "follow" Christ in your life? How does Thomas ˆ Kempis approach this task differently from the Desert Fathers, Benedict, and Saint Francis?

2. The injunction that one should "have a humble opinion of one's self" and "love to be unknown and be esteemed as nothing" [pp. 4-5] is quite at odds with the culture of ambition, striving, and success in which we live. What mental and practical conflicts arise when we attempt to live according to this rule? What does Thomas mean when he writes, "He is truly great who is unimportant in his own eyes and considers the greatest of honors a mere nothing"? Is it at all possible to reconcile such teachings with worldly success?

3. Thomas wrote his Imitation for his fellow monks and it is based on the monastic life. How can we who are not living in monasteries, but rather very much in the world, use his precepts to grow closer to God and to attain inner peace? Which of the principles here are easiest to adapt to the busy lives we lead at the end of the 20th century, which most difficult?

4. Like Benedict, Thomas encourages the practice of silence and the setting aside of time for prayer and deep personal reflection [pp. 26-29]. What are the parallels in our contemporary lives to "listening to idle news and gossip" [p. 27]? What time-wasting activities can we learn to do without, in order to make time for solitude and meditation? How does the Christian monastic practice of silence and meditation compare with that of Eastern religions like Buddhism? If you are familiar with "mindfulness meditation" or meditation as practiced by Buddhists, what is similar and what is different between these Asian-based approaches and the Christian monastic approach?

5. Thomas addresses the most difficult question of all, perhaps: that of having the resolve and making the commitment to change our lives: "Come now, and begin this very moment and say to yourself: 'Now is the time to do itÉ.Now is the right time to amend my life'" [p. 32]. How do you respond to such a radical challenge? Do you feel, like Augustine, the desire to be changed, but "not yet" [Confessions, Book VIII]?

6. How can Thomas's advice on living in community and "Bearing with One Another's Failings" [pp. 20-21] be used to better our relationships with those with whom we live and work? What particular insights into human intimacy did you find most useful?

As Cynthia Ozick observes in her Preface, we approach The Book of Job without the weight of scholarly knowledge, and "there is something to be said for novice readers who come to Job's demands and plaints unaccoutered: we will perceive God's world exactly as Job himself perceives itÉJob's bewilderment will be oursÉ.For us to be as (philosophically) naked as Job will mean to be naked of bias, dogma, tradition. It will mean to imagine Job solely as he is set forth by his own words in his own story."

1. What current or recurring examples of disaster, cruelty, or loss in history, or in the contemporary news media come to mind most powerfully when you read The Book of Job? What examples of disaster or loss in your own life do you think of? Does your reading of Job's drama shift, change, or deepen your perspective on your life's most awful experiences? On those of history? If so, how?

2. The author of Job makes an effort to frame this highly sophisticated debate with the naive style of a folk tale. How do the opening and closing of Job's story shape your response to its central questions and arguments? Why do you suppose the author chose to make this juxtaposition? Is it because, as Cynthia Ozick suggests, the author intends it to be a timeless or primordial tale?

3. The "patience of Job" was already proverbial by the first century c.e., when it was referred to in the Epistle of James. But is Job a patient man? Doesn't he lose patience with God? How do you understand the personality and character of Job? Is his story meant to teach us patience, or is this an oversimplified reading?

4. How does The Book of Job change your assumptions about the nature of God? We tend to think of God as not only omnipotent but good, just, fatherly. Why does God agree with Satan's urging that Job needs to be tested? Does God laugh at, or ignore, Job's suffering? How should Job react to God's observation that Job is just a minute and insignificant piece of the Creation? Does God's replacement of goods, cattle, and children to Job at the end of the tale justify his having taken them away?

5. Cynthia Ozick, in her Preface to the Vintage edition, states that The Book of Job is "shocking to conventional religion." Why is it so?

For discussion: Confessions by St. Augustine of Hippo

1. What is Augustine's conception of the self? If you have read other autobiographies, can you remember a self-examination written with such acute awareness and observation of both external and internal conditions? How is Augustine's intelligence particularly suited to the writing of both self-analysis and philosophy? What is Augustine's understanding of the role of God in forming self and soul?

2. What are the turning points in Augustine's conversion? How does he characterize his early theft of pears from the orchard? His relationship with his mistress and his child? Why is it so difficult for him to leave carnal desire behind? How important are the voice of the child singing "Take it and read" and the inspiration to pick up the Scriptures at that moment?

3. Many moments in Confessions are striking in their sheer dramatic or literary power. Which passages or event do you find most moving, and why?

4. Could Confessions have been written today? Does our culture support such serious, intensive, analysis of the self and the meaning of life? Or have psychotherapy and such phenomena taken the place of self-motivated searching like that engaged in by Augustine? What role does reading play in Augustine's search?

5. Thomas Merton has commented on the role of spirituality in helping us to come into contact with our "deep selves." How important is the search for God in Augustine's establishment of his true self? Do you think he would have achieved any sense of peace or satisfaction with his life had he not ultimately taken the path he did? How would you characterize the difference between a "deep self" and a "false self"?

6. What are the stages Augustine goes through in his effort to understand the nature of evil? What do you think of his final definition of evil as the absence of good? How do people become evil? Do you think evil has changed since Augustine's time, or is the nature of human evil a constant throughout history?

Suggestions for further reading