In God’s Holy Light
Wisdom from the Desert Monastics
by Joan Chittister
Franciscan Media, 2015. 134 pages.
Review written August 27, 2024, from a library book.
Starred Review
I don’t remember what prompted me to check this book out, but I was happy I did. The chapters are short, and perfect for a quick read over breakfast to give you something to think about during the day.
In each chapter the author, herself a Benedictine Sister, begins with a short segment from the writings of the Desert Monastics, “thousands of monks and nuns who went into the Egyptian wastelands in the third to sixth centuries.” The writings usually take the form of little stories or conversations, and they usually have something a little bit surprising.
Here’s one example from Chapter Three:
Some old men came to see Abba Poemon, and said to him: “Tell us, when we see brothers dozing during the sacred office, should we pinch them so they will stay awake?” The old man said to them: “Actually, if I saw a brother sleeping, I would put his head on my knees and let him rest.”
After that, she gives us a few short pages of reflections on the passage. In this chapter, that includes thoughts on pious practices and the spiritual life.
With this story, legalism and false asceticism pale in the light of greater virtue. What Abba Poeman calls for here is the godliness of mercy and compassion and forgiveness: the very holiness that pious practices are meant to sow in us and that rigidity for its own sake can never substitute. Nor does our failure to be unwaveringly faithful to the practice of them count against the value of those whose hearts are right even when their knees are weak….
In the spiritual life, we are meant to prod our souls to regular discipline so that in doing so our hearts will be softened to serve those whom Jesus served. The gentle Jesus wants clean hearts from us, not sacrifice; deep down basic commitment, not simply blue ribbons for winning the spiritual marathons we’ve run to make ourselves feel holy.
There are thirty-five chapters in this book, and that’s the kind of challenging yet encouraging thinking you’ll find in these pages. Recommended for anyone who wants to give thought to what it means to live a spiritual life.
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