Desert Spirituality and Cultural Resistance: From Ancient Monks to Mountain Refugees (J.J. Thiessen Lecture)

Synopsis

The Wholeness Of The Life We Seek Is One That We Are Seldom Able To Envision In Advance. It Takes A Shape That Only The Desert Knows. Desert Spirituality And Cultural Resistance: From Ancient Monks To Mountain Refugees Is A Passionate Exploration Of The Theme Of Wilderness In The Spiritual Life. These Three Lectures By Accomplished Storyteller And Theologian Belden Lane Are Inspirational In A Way That Lectures Rarely Are. Lane Urges Us To Think Courageously About The Place Of Wilderness In Christian Life. He Contemplates The Radical Lives Of The Fourth-century Desert Fathers And Mothers, As Well As The Courageous Example Of Sixteenth-century Anabaptists. He Speaks Of The Ways In Which Wilderness Can Relate To The Practice Of A Counter-cultural Spirituality Today, And He Asks: Can Desert And Mountain Gift Us With A Language To Understand The Experiences In Our Lives When We Are Taken To The Edge, Finding Ourselves Isolated And Alone, Both Spiritually And Culturally? The Wilderness Is A Place Of Suffering, Out On The Edge. It Is A Place Of Letting Go, A Place For Dying, And Yet Also A Place For Coming Alive. The Desert Is Where Things Fall Apart And Where Things May Come Together For Us In An Unanticipated Way.