Thursday, March 06, 2014

I'm reading the Desert Fathers again. They need to be read again and again and again ...

Photo: Poodle in the wild.


"The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps." - Proverbs 16: 9

I was inspired to do something for Lent in imitation of something I read in the Fathers, but I quickly found out I wasn't strong enough.   As a consolation, I'll post a story I like very much ...
"They said of Ammon that some people asked him to arbitrate in their quarrel but the hermit took no notice of them. So a woman said to her neighbor, 'What a fool this neighbor is!' Ammon heard her and called her, and said, 'You can't imagine how hard I have tried in different deserts to be thought of as a fool! But now you have recognized that it is part of my nature to be foolish and you have made all my efforts to pretend to folly pointless." - Sayings of the Desert Fathers

7 comments:

  1. Is there a particular book you recommend? I always wanted to dive in.

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  2. There is an affordable compendium from Penguin Classic, titled The Desert Fathers - it should be readily available. I have another older copy of Helen Waddell's classic, not sure if it is still available. Then the Cassian's Institutes I have is a chance copy I came upon many years ago. If you check Amazon they might be available.

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    1. I'm going to pick up the Penguin!

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    2. Haha! Anyway - it's a condensed version of the Waddell original - I checked the copyright this AM.

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  3. That poodle looks like Josey, our wheaten terrier. She needs a good discipline for Lent, the naughty girl!

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    1. What happened to MOMO the Jack Russell poodle?

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  4. He's very much alive.
    Sr's dog died so she has the wheaten terrier puppy; we all interact with her, so I count her as belonging to all of us.

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