I recently read a book by Simon Parke called Desert Depths, which is the story of a vicar visiting a desert monastery. Each of the brothers\/sisters has a name that they have come to own and this is the theme I want to use <\/p>\n
First \u2013 A question to hold<\/strong> \u2013 by this I mean it is not a question that you should seek to answer by logic or theology but simply to hold, in your heart. <\/p>\n How do you approach mission – a desert or oasis?<\/p>\n As we pray today spend time reflecting on the names given to the residents of the monastery in the book<\/p>\n Peter the fool is the abbott, \u201cseeks enlightenment above grace, expertise above mercy, wisdom above love,\u201d Lets pray for one another and the journeys we face, our defaults and the surfaces of our lives that this week God may show us new depths.<\/p>\n Finally when you reflected on the names was your instinct to identify yourself with their names or the reasoning for their names? As you hold the question we first set How do you approach mission – a desert or oasis? Remember the \u201cthe desert likes accurate names\u201d<\/p>\n Blessings<\/p>\n
\nDalip the empty \u2013 who cared, gave advice, and felt he was put on the planet to help others, yet in the desert came to realise it masked an inner emptiness, and though he got to know his soul and changed he didn\u2019t change his name because \u201cinstincts remain\u201d and \u201cthe desert likes accurate names\u201d
\nSantos the flighty the hermit called so as he searched from one idea to another for enlightenment never realising the depths any.
\nBernadette the chisel \u2013 in her there is \u201ca critic a judge, who judges her and others, it drives her to do but never says to her ENOUGH\u201d <\/p><\/blockquote>\n