Journey Back to Eden.pdf - St Mark Coptic Orthodox Church Chicago

A TIME TO VISIT ABRAHAM 33NOVEMBER 6, THURSDAYDesert God,For days I have been smiling so broadly, I fear that I maylook irreverent to these holy monks! You are purifying mefrom all my worldly preoccupations with painless delights.Every stone and ancient shard strewn across the sands pleasesme. Every aspect of the monks, aged and novice, intrigues andblesses me. They are accustomed to this place of austere beauty.They are well worn into its pure submission to your hot sun,dry wind, cold nights, and endless horizons. Their faces, likethe stones themselves, are baked and set into their desertniches. Yet they are alive, the stones and the faces, alive withobedience to your ways and the acceptance of your will.How I enjoy hearing the monks praise you through thenight! Their chant is steady and sure; the clouds of smoke arethick with incense as they permeate the air, our skin, ourclothes, and our souls. They are the prayer of the desert itself.The aspirations of every citizen of earth rise up through themto heaven. The monks praise you from the desert floor of thehuman heart. As you have said, if they would not, the rocksand stones themselves would start to sing (Luke 19:40)!Gifts of GrapesNOVEMBER 8, SATURDAYA number of years ago, I read an account of a story in the hagiographyof the early Desert Fathers that I have now actually experiencedmyself!A few weeks ago, some pilgrims brought to the abbot a bowl ofsucculent grapes from the Nile Valley. Anba Serabamon thankedthe guests very much and, when they left, he promptly presentedthe grapes to me as his visiting monk.After I thanked the abbot, he left, and I decided to give thegrapes to Abuna Sidrak, the guest master of the monastery whohad been taking such good care of me. It was an act of gratitudeon my part, and also a little calculus, that if I were to give him agift, he might be even more forthcoming as a guest master in thefuture.