The Wild of the Desert

So I graduated a couple of weeks ago, and since then I have been hurled into a whirlwind of of questioning. This has been a good thing though. I have found that I do have a firm foundation and that my time at ORU has proven to be worth the work and sacrifice. I finished two books a couple days ago that have shaped a lot of my thought processes. The first is Into The Wild. The second is The Way of the Heart. These books present a very similar topic that has been on my mind consistently for about a year. The thought is of seclusion and if it helps us to deepen our faith. I have always been a firm believer in the saying , "those who grow alone, grow weird." My time at ORU has really made me a firm believer in that statement, but it has also made me a non-believer in that statement. The trend with faith in twenty-somethings amends the statement with, "those who grow alone, grow weird, or grow out." The statistics tell me that if I seclude myself, I will come to the conclusion that a belief in God is a farce. But what is monasticism all about. Enter Christopher McCandelles:
McCandelles' story is the book Into the Wild. The story presents a recent college graduate (like myself) who decides to leave his identity and go on a journey to find himself and apply his ideals. He succeeds but in the end it costs him his life. One could debate that he was a monk in the church of the naturalists or a prideful fool. To make a decision one would have to read the book. Although he spends most of his time alone in the end of the book is presented a much more human man. He comes to terms with his own weaknesses and bitternesses and gains hope in humanity. This is a very different picture then the typical charismatic crazy that is completely out of touch with reality. So what is the difference here. The obvious is the relationship with God that McCandelles does not have, and the charismaniac has, but this to me does not make sense. A relationship with God should make one more in touch with reality, right? This is where Henri Nouwen enters my thought process. Nouwen's book "The Way of the Heart," studies the desert fathers and presents a modern way to connect with God through silence, solitude, and prayer. The book is full of great wisdom and insight. The Desert Fathers and very much like the character of McCandelles. They journey into the Egyptian Desert to find God and flee the world. They succeed tremendously, and through their example monasticism is born. The leader of this movement is St. Anthony spent twenty years in isolation, and emerged from this time balanced, gentle, and caring. It was in this growing alone that he grew Christlike! The example of St. Anthony totally destroys all that I have thought about seclusion. So what is the conclusion that I should come to? The Desert Fathers I am sure lived in a sort of community, but the focus of their community was to be secluded. So, do those who grow alone grow weird, or can growing alone by choice be something that deeply internalizes our faith and breed Christlikeness?

Song for thought: Throw My Crowns - The Great Fiction