THE DESERT TRADITION AND CHRISTIAN SPIRITUAL DIRECTION

Abstract

An affinity towards desert is the common denominator for the Abrahamic religions. The arid land offered an inspiring symbol as wells as a challenging environment for the seekers of God. Later on finding or creating a desert situation in every circumstance one find himself/herself became the genuine spirit of religious life. It is an open invitation to all people to move out of their comfort zones (of possessing and being possessed) to the freedom of the children of God. In modern terms it is a liberation from the place of the unconscious where we are no longer in control but are driven by basic instincts and primitive urges. It is ultimately a spirituality of paradox that God chooses to reveal His true self in most unlikely and uncomfortable places. Christianity is not a religion that devotes itself to pursuing spiritual highs but that all Christian spirituality is to be measured by the effects it has on the world and our being in that world. Spiritual guides must never get too full of themselves and feel they are morally superior. The weakness of the passions can strike anyone at anytime. The fathers and mothers of the desert offer a wise, gentle, considerate and Christian manner of tackling the seemingly inextirpable desires by the simple remedies and medication of discernment, prayer, balance and compassion.