Category Archives: Anthony of the Desert

November 16, 2022 · 1:49 pm

Work and Prayer

When the holy ABBA Anthony lived in the desert he was beset by spiritual apathy and attacked by many sinful thoughts. He said to God, “Lord, I want to be saved but these thoughts do not leave me alone; What shall I do differently? How can I be saved?” a short while afterwards, when he got up to go out, Anthony saw a man like himself sitting at his work, getting up from his work to pray, then sitting down and platting a rope, then getting up again to pray. It was an Angel of the Lord sent to correct and reassure him. He heard the Angel saying to him “do this and you will be saved.” At these words, Anthony was filled with joy and courage. He did this, and he was saved.

~~~ Sayings of the Desert

In a recent google search I received 776,000,000 hits to my search “Prayer Book”. Our world is searching for and hungering for a way to pray. The disciples of Jesus said, “Lord teach us to pray,” and he gave them what we called the Lord’s Prayer or the Our Father. People who seek God want to pray, but prayer is sometimes, many times, difficult to manage in the lives that we live. Most of us were taught to prioritize our lives so that we can be successful in all that we do. We are busy, anxious, stressed, depressed, tired and in the amid hustle and bustle, prayer gets shoved to the back. It is overlooked and neglected while we go about the important tasks that each day brings us.

This model was later refined by Benedict of Nursia the founder of modern Monasticism. He wrote a rule to guide those who felt the calling of God to enter a religious community. The Rule was a guidebook on how to live in a communal setting and get closer to God. Benedict used a Latin phrase- ORA LABORA –or work and prayer. The purpose of any monastic community is prayer and closer union with God. Prayer can be words, listening to scripture or simple silence in the presence of God. The Monks of his time and those of today have a daily prayer schedule called the Office of Hours. There are seven times of prayer a day for the Monk of strict observance.

Benedict and Anthony both realized that a man had to do more than pray 24 hours a day. In his Rule Benedict states – “Idleness is the enemy of the soul” and he set a path for work at every community that allowed it to thrive spiritually and physically. The Monks were given various tasks and commitments that go to support the Monastery and help the outside community. These tasks are as widespread as greeting guests, making bread, candles, and as diverse as making coffins. The Bible is very clear and speaks of idleness many times. One of my favorites comes from Proverbs – “One who is slack in work is close kin to a vandal.” (Proverbs 18:9) Work is essential part of our spiritual life.

Obviously very few of us are ever going to join a monastic community, but we all want to pray and get closer to God. If we are to be truly closer to God, we must develop a rhythm of work and prayer that allows us to praise God for all he has given us. We must offer our work up to God and feel that he is using us to help his creation. To do so we are compelled to find our rhythm of work and prayer. I hope that you can find a rhythm that will free you to be the person that God created.

PRAYER

LORD, I offer myself to you today. Let all that I do with my hands be credited to you. Lead me to a place where prayer and work are both natural and are a part of my service to you. Grant the peace to be able to develop a life that is pleasing to you.

Amen

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Filed under Abba Anthony, Anthony of the Desert, Christian Living, Desert Fathers, Mother Teresa, Prayer

October 17, 2018 · 7:24 am

Living in the Kingdom

“Now therefore, my beloved, I beseech you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, not to neglect your salvation, that this transitory life may not deprive you of eternal life, nor the skin of this corruptible body deprive you of the kingdom of light ineffable, nor a guilty seat lose you the angelic thrones of judgment. Truly my children, my heart is in wonder and my spirit in terror, that even when we were given the full freedom to become saints, we all take our pleasure like drunkards on new wine.”

—– Anthony of Egypt

Articles are written, sermons are preached on this elusive topic of salvation. Churches have formulas that are touted as the only way to God. In times past, and today, people are killed because they see the pathway to God differently. There are those who proclaim that we live in a time of “Christian Genocide.” I am not sure how far I am willing to go on that subject but I do think we are living in a time of tremendous exclusivism in religion that leads to horrible atrocities. The desert monk gives us some instruction that make the path to God very personal.

He urges us not to neglect our salvation. Religious fanatics who are engaged in eliminating others are forgetting that the main thing is how we personally relate to the kingdom of God. Does that kingdom live in our hearts.and minds? Is it real to you and what are you doing as a part of that kingdom? I would hardly think that God wants us to kill people who disagree with us.

Anthony asserts that our lives are transitory. He points to the tragic decision that so many make to neglect the eternal nature we all share. We are part of the Kingdom of God, not just in the future, but right now. We are in the corruptible body that drags us down. This corruption causes us to believe that we hold ultimate right answer and all who see it differently are heretics.

We are given the freedom to become saints. The word saint comes with some baggage. By definition, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness or likeness or closeness to God. That closeness is developed by rising above the corruption of this world. We cannot rise above this corruption and be obsessed with it at the same time. It is my firm belief that those who spend their lives condemning others simply condemn themselves. This condemnation is a result of our desire to be God. They make the judgment, and thus, hand out the punishment.

We must not take pleasure in our own holiness but be constantly aware of our own corruption. The goal of the believer is to live in the Kingdom here and now. In order to live in the Kingdom, we must have the heart of the King. “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” (John 3:17) Let us have the same attitude as the King. Our calling is to be the light of the world and the one who offers hope to those who are hopeless. That’s what “Living the Kingdom” means.

Prayer

Lord, give me the wisdom and knowledge to live in the Kingdom today. So often my own corruptions cause me to stray. The source of such corruption is sometimes a lack of self-esteem and other times just pure arrogance. Lead me away from both so I may be as you.

Amen

God the Craftsman

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.

—– Anthony of the Desert

In her play, “The Zeal of Thy House,” Dorothy Sayers imagines a stonemason working on an intricate carving for the chancel of Canterbury Cathedral. He then drops his carving tool and ruins the stone. This devastates him because the valuable and custom-cut stone is ruined. The designer, however, takes the tool out of the stonemason’s hand and begins restoration. He brings forth out of the spoiled stone a new and different figure which has its own part to play in the Cathedral and then permits the blundering mason to complete it in all its glory. “So works with us,” concludes Dorothy Sayers, “the cunning craftsman, God.”

As I tell this story, I cannot shake the phrase from my mind: “The cunning craftsman, God.” In this situation, the word cunning does not mean some kind of craftiness or deceit. The word is taken in its purer sense indicating skill, wisdom, and ability. The phrase then really means that the Master artist God can take our awkward efforts and make something useful out of them. He takes our mismanaged lives, our failed efforts, our missed marks, our shameful deeds, our alien attitudes, our sinful lives and with His divine resourcefulness, He saves the day. He creates something new, worthy and wonderful that still has usefulness and beauty in the divine plan of things. We desperately need this type of assurance.

I joy in the fact that I can dwell in that state of assurance. God has promised to be with us always even in the lowest valley of our lives. he is always eager and ready to reshape and rebuild us.

Prayer

Lord, I open myself to you and ask you to reshape and restore me in the way that you intended when you created me. May my life be shaped, with fire if necessary, to resemble your beauty and majesty. This is my prayer.

Amen