Gotta love the abbas and ammas

So reading different stories of the desert ammas and abbas when I came across this little number. 

Certain brethren once came to the abbot Lucius, and the old man asked them, "What work are you wont to do?" They said, "We do no work, but, according to the saying of the apostle, we pray without ceasing." Then said the old man, "Do you never eat?" And they replied, "Truly, we do eat." Then Lucius said, "And who does your praying for you while you eat?" They were silent. Then he asked them "Do you never sleep?" When they confessed that they slept, he asked, "And who does your praying for you while you sleep?" They could find no answer to give to him. Then he said, "I see that you do not perform what you boast. I will show you how to pray without ceasing. Sit working in the morning up to the accustomed hour; weave mats and make baskets. Meanwhile keep praying in these words: 'Lord, according to thy mercy pardon my offences and do away with my iniquity.' When you have finished a few baskets sell them for money. Give a portion to the poor, and keep the rest to buy your food. When, then, you eat or sleep, the poor whom you relieve are filling in the gaps in your ceaseless round of prayer."

I got this little gem from this book.​​

Lady Justice, Father Time, Mother Earth and the Devil

This past week I have had a difficult time trying to write anything in part because sometimes it is difficult to make the time and in part because I have hit a bit of a dry patch. Mostly, however, the reason I have had difficulty is because I heard some news this week that stopped me in my tracks.​

​What I cannot understand these days is our resistance to talk about the Devil. Perhaps it is because we do not think the devil is real or perhaps we do not think there is a personified red horned creature roaming the earth. 

Lets get beyond that. There is no red horned creature walking the earth. But do not be fooled, the Devil is real. ​

Just like Lady Justice is real.​

Just like Father Time is real.​

Just like Mother Earth is real.​

These are all personifications of a reality that is beyond our ability to fully comprehend. Thus we tell stories of these "characters". We tell our family that "Father Time catches up with you" or "you cannot escape Lady Justice" or ​"care for Mother Earth." And no one raises a stink that there is no such thing as Lady Justice or Mother Earth. No one says these characters are lies or figments of our collective imagination. 

Because we all know that justice, time and the earth are real. The best ways we have to talk about them are in the characters. ​

And yet, when we talk about evil (which I think most agree is real in this world)​ we shy away from personifying it. 

Perhaps personifying evil is not something we want to do? When we personify something then it hits closer to home. It becomes more real, more personal, more intimate. ​We respect/fear Justice, Time and the Earth. But we keep our distance to Evil. 

The more we distance our selves from it the more mysterious it is. Evil cannot and should not have that sort of mystery or power over us. And yet, it does. ​

I will not hesitate to talk about the Devil or Satan because I have, and I bet you have too, seen evil in this world and in our lives. We have seen evil that has gone unnoticed, unrealized, and kept in the shadows only to continue to raise all sorts of hell in this world. ​

The devil is not "real" but I have no better way to talk about Evil, which makes the devil worth embracing. 

Current failures projected as future fears

For as old as the earth is, there is a conversation that is universal. Every generation fears that the next generation is going to be messed up. ​

Older generations decry the seemingly decline of values, respect, and morals. Technology, music, fashion ​and pop culture are, among other things, blamed as contributing to the "rapid decline of society".

I get it. Every generation in some ways moves away from previous generations and perhaps it is just human nature to be concerned about this sort of thing. 

The thing is that when we fear for future generations, I think we are really just projecting our own failures. It is easier to blame the next generation for their faults, and thus fear their moral decline, than to take ownership of our own failures. ​

Could it be that our failures contribute to the "decline" that we so greatly fear? ​

I do not fear that American culture is headed down a slippery slope ​to the lower bowels of hell. I fear that my generation will fail to live up to our own dreams and hopes in such a way that we will turn to fear.