About

Throughout the centuries, messengers have been faithful in presenting a message to a church that they could barely recognise. The messenger was never important, only the clear message to return to oneness with God and obedience to Him. The messengers were often imperfect, broken, unorganised, and arguably half-crazy. This messenger is no different. Considering this, it is important to note that when we acclimatize to our cultural environment, it is not always easy to see the foundation of our presumptions and conclusions. We might end up describing valid conclusions as “crazy” when they are, in fact, biblically sound, because our premise is based on a morality that only loosely reflects a few scriptural commands, or none at all.When the desert fathers desired to return to the classic spiritual disciplines, they were forced to retreat for a time, into a place of isolation. The purpose was not to be isolated, but to renew their minds with the word of God and silence the many voices that became louder than God’s. Many will view this practice as strange. Christ himself retreated to “lonely places” to pray in the height of his ministry. For those who desire to have only God, this method is a proven one and has bore much fruit in the world. Monasticism’s goal was not to die in caves, but to go out into a dark world that had lost its course, and bring the light of life, Christ. Today we enjoy the fruit of this sacrifice, in our hospitals, libraries, schools, and our modern Bible. The Essenes (or the group that lived in the commune near the Qumran caves), while imperfect, were used by God for the important task of preserving the scriptures we enjoy today. The many monastic orders are responsible for an enormous contribution to the institutions of the modern world, including ones of learning, science and health.

Brother Reuben is a Canadian. He lives in a small town and practices the ascetic life. He received his thorn in the flesh at age 12. He is a voice calling out to anyone who will listen. Prepare the way!

“If you are not surprised when the rocks cry out, why are you surprised when praise comes from a dry tree?”