Balance of the Heart

Desert Spirituality for Twenty-First-Century Christians

Farag

• Publisher: Cascade Books
• Year: 2012
• eBook ISBN: 9781621898535
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Religion

Desert spirituality speaks to the mind and heart. It is a spirituality that helps us balance our work and daily obligations and figure out our priorities and the place of God in our lives. Desert spirituality addresses our most intimate thoughts and helps us analyze the roots of our spiritual setbacks. Its essence is to love the Lord with all our heart, soul, and mind (Matt 22:37). Starting in fourth-century Egypt, desert spirituality has become a global phenomenon. It has endured through the centuries because it is practical and simple; it tells us how to live out Scripture in our daily lives. It is also profound; it is deeply rooted in the theology of the incarnation and the renewal of creation by the resurrection. The desert fathers and mothers left us short wisdom sayings, revealing their inner experience in their long journey toward being with God. They speak about Scripture and prayer, but also about how to love our neighbors, discern our thoughts, and evaluate our daily activities. Come, learn from these desert dwellers as they teach us about the examination of thoughts, the discernment of the soul, and the balance of the heart.

Part One

Introduction

This book is an introduction to the wisdom literature of the early Egyptian monastics found in the work known to scholars as the Apophthegmata Patrum, usually translated as “The Sayings of the Desert Fathers,” and also in some of the lives and letters of these desert dwellers. It is not only twentieth- and twenty-first-century scholars who have been enamored of these monastics, in the fourth-century world, too, people came to know about them and were attracted to their lifestyle. Many visitors traveled across seas and deserts to listen to their wisdom. Among these visitors and guests were John Cassian, Palladius, and Evagrius Ponticus, all of whom wrote down their experience among the Egyptian monastics in different forms. The ancient literature of and about Egyptian monasticism is vast and each text can have a study of its own. This book will not discuss every text lest the focus shift from an introduction to a survey. A few texts have been selected as representative of the essence of the wisdom and spirituality of the Egyptian (also called Coptic) monastic tradition. It is hoped that the reader will continue reading through the rest of the literary corpus and beyond. This book is an introduction and a companion text to the desert sayings. It is not intended to be comprehensive or to replace reading the sayings as written in the primary texts. It is a guide that will enable you to enjoy the words of the fathers and mothers themselves.

Coptic monasticism inspired and was the foundation of other monastic communities beyond the Egyptian borders. Basil of Caesarea (c. 330–79) founded a communal monastic system based on what he saw in the Egyptian desert as well as in Syria. His rules became the foundation of Byzantine monasticism. Benedict of Nursia (c. 480–c. 550) based his monastic ideal on the writings of Basil and the Copt Pachomius, founder of communal monasticism in Upper Egypt, as well as those of Cassian. The Benedictine order was the starting point of all Western monasticism and religious orders. Anthony and his disciples in their isolated desert had a far reaching impact on the universal church.

Though both Byzantine and Latin monastic communities were based on Coptic monastic ideals, they did not develop the genre of monastic wisdom literature and sayings. One of the reasons might be that Coptic monasticism was founded on and flourished through the anchoritic and semi-anchoritic models, where the notion of discipleship to a great Abba was the underlying principle. A person would be inspired by a certain Abba and wish to follow his life style. He settled beside the Abba in the desert and tried to emulate his spiritual practice. When the disciple faced difficulties in his spiritual journey he sought guidance from his Abba. Sometimes he approached his spiritual father with a specific question related to a personal problem. On other occasions he merely sought general advice with the request: “Abba, tell me a word to live by.” On both occasions, this would be a moment of instruction and divulging of personal spiritual experience through a saying, though the father usually tried to avoid any personal association to the saying out of humility. Byzantine and Latin monasticism emphasized the communal aspect of monasticism and thus a father-disciple model was not adopted. The cultural, geographical, historical, and communal settings of the Byzantine and Western orders did not allow a similar wisdom literature to flourish. The monastic wisdom literature presented here stems from and represents the cultural, social, and religious temperament of the Egyptian population.

This unique literary genre had its precursors in ancient Egypt. The genre took three forms in the Egyptian context, one of which was a didactic speech or teaching of a father to his son. This type of wisdom literature, didactic literature or literature belonging to the genre of Instruction, originated in Egypt during the Old Kingdom (c. 2650–2135 BC) and gradually developed through the Middle Kingdom (c. 2040–1650 BC), the Eighteenth Dynasty (c. 1550–1305 BC) and the Late Period that ended with the Greek conquest of Egypt by Alexander the Great in 332 BC. During the Nineteenth and Twentieth Dynasties (c. 1305–1080 BC), also known as the Ramesside Period, we find the culmination of the Instruction genre in the long work of The Instruction of Amenemope. The genre reflects on problems of life and death. It developed the new ideal man as one “content with a humble position and a minimal amount of material possessions. His chief characteristic is modesty. He is self-controlled, quiet, and kind toward people, and he is humble before God.”1 The ideal man’s worth lies in his inner quality.2

This type of literature, sometimes called “Wisdom literature,” “contributed significantly to the subsequent flowering of the genre among the Hebrews.”3 It was during the Ramesside Period that the Hebrews’ “knowledge of things Egyptian is reflected in the Bible.” Biblical scholars have agreed that Proverbs 22:20–2—“Have I not written for you thirty sayings of admonition and knowledge, to show you what is right and true, so that you may give a true answer to those who sent you?”—refers to the “thirty” chapters of instruction of Amenemope.4 A few examples will demonstrate the influence of the The Instruction of Amenemope on Proverbs. Chapter 23 of the Instructions gives the following advice:

Do not eat in the presence of the official

And then set your mouth before <him>;

If you are sated pretend to chew,

Content yourself with your saliva.5

This compares with Proverbs 23:1–2:“When you sit down to eat with a ruler, observe carefully what is before you, and put a knife to your throat if you have a big appetite.” Another example from the Instructions:

Do not move the markers on the borders of fields,

Nor shift the position of the measuring-cord.

Do not be greedy for a cubit of land,

Nor encroach on the boundaries of a widow.6

Compare Proverbs 22:28: “Do not remove the ancient landmark that your ancestors set up,” and Proverbs 23:10, “Do not remove an ancient landmark or encroach on the fields of orphans.”

The Instructions is also attentive to moral teachings, such as “Guard your tongue from harmful speech,” found in Instruction 8.7 Again:

Keep firm your heart, steady your heart,

Do not steer with your tongue;

If a man’s tongue is the boat’s rudder,

The Lord of All is yet its pilot.8

The ideas and vocabulary are familiar from James 3:4–5:“Or look at ships: though they are so large that it takes strong winds to drive them, yet they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great exploits.”

Stories are another ancient Egyptian literary genre. The stories of Setne Khamwas revolved around Khamwas, the fourth son of King Ramses II (1290–1224 BC). Si-Osire, the son of Khamwas, goes to the netherworld with his father. During their visit they witness the suffering of those who sinned and the blessedness of those who have done good deeds. They see a rich man undergoing torture and a poor man being honored, which conveys the message of the parable of Lazarus and the rich man of Luke 16:19–31. Ancient Egyptian literature and culture had deep concern with the life after death.9 From its earliest recorded literature during the Old Kingdom (ca. 2650–2135 BC) Egyptian civilization has reflected on life and how to lead a moral life that would ensure a healthy and comfortable afterlife.

When Christianity came to Egypt with Mark the Evangelist in AD 42 the religious climate was receptive to many of the Christian teachings, included belief in one God, contemplation on the essence of life and death, moral behavior, seeking the wisdom of the elders, and seeking the heavenly kingdom. With the gradual Christianization of the society, the biblical message of renunciation for the sake of the kingdom appealed to early Christians, especially in Egypt. Following Christ meant full dedication to the Christian message, which meant renouncing everything. Monasticism responded to a culture that was deeply rooted in thinking about moral issues and living a moral and righteous life here for the sake of the kingdom to come. A similar trend can be observed in the Mesopotamian culture that was also receptive to the monastic ideal.

Renunciation gradually led to a more ascetic society and eventually to the rise of monasticism. There was an accompanying development of wisdom literature, which took the Christian form of the Apophthegmata Patrum, or the Sayings of the Fathers, together with their lives and letters. The Apophthegmata are a collection of pithy statements that reflect the wisdom of fathers and mothers “instructing” or handing down their spiritual and life experience to their spiritual children, sometimes called “disciples.” These sayings are going to be the main focus of our work as they represent the classic wisdom literature of desert spirituality.

The Apophthegmata are preserved in two main forms: a systematic collection that follows the sayings topically and an alphabetical collection that follows the sayings of certain monastic figures. Each collection has its merits. The systematic collection gives the reader a quick introduction to topics such as progress in perfection, non-judgment, unceasing prayer, hospitality, and other similar topics. If the reader wants to know the sayings of a specific desert father or mother, then he or she can refer to the alphabetical collection. The latter form enables the reader to know the father or mother, his or her temperament, character and teachings, more intimately. The reader will discover that he or she is more comfortable with the spiritual approach of one father or mother over another. Developing a special spiritual bond with one of the fathers or mothers of the desert is more difficult to achieve by reading the systematic collection. This book will approach topics systematically. It will also select sayings or stories from the lives of many of the desert dwellers such as Abba Anthony of Egypt, Abbas Macarius the Great and Macarius of Alexandria, Abba Daniel of Scetis, Abba John the Little, Amma Syncletica, Ammas Theodora and Sarah, and Abba Isaiah of Scetis, just to mention a few.

The monastic texts have captured the interest of modern scholars and excellent scholarly research has shed light on many aspects of monasticism in the early church. This book will focus on the spiritual aspects of these texts without delving into many details about the scholarly debates. For example there are discussions about Athanasius’ agenda in writing the Life of Anthony, or how much editing was involved, or how accurately the historical person is rendered in the Life. Though all these a...

Table of contents

• Balance of the Heart
• Acknowledgments
• Part One—Introduction
• 1 Follow Me
• 2 For God So Loved the World
• 3 Be Imitators of Me, as I Am of Christ
• Part Two—Introduction
• 4 Let the Word of Christ Dwell in You Richly
• 5 Thought Captive to Christ
• 6 Pray without Ceasing
• 7 Treasure in Heaven
• 8 The Discernment of Spirits
• 9 God Is Love
• 10 Keep Watch over the Door of My Lips
• 11 Clothe Yourselves with Humility
• 12 Be Perfect
• Epilogue—Love the Lord With All Your Heart, Soul, and Mind
• Glossary
• Suggested Titles for Further Reading