Desert
Photo by David McLenachan on Unsplash
Oboedire | May 27, 2026
One of the discernible threads running through the tapestry of church history is the periodic return to the spirituality of early Christianity offered by the desert ammas and abbas. In the Wesleyan tradition, for example, the influence of primitive Christianity was key in the life of both John and Charles Wesley and in the early-Methodist movement.
An identifiable return to the desert is particularly seen in times of liminal-space disorder, the place to live in times of awakening when the old order has proved insufficient, but the new order is not yet in existence. We are in such a time, and not surprisingly we are finding more and more people drinking from streams in the desert. Matthew Fox writes of it this way,
“A time of crisis and chaos, the kind that a pandemic brings, is, among other things, a time to call on our ancestors for their deep wisdom. Not just knowledge but true wisdom is needed in a time of death and profound change, for at such times we are beckoned not simply to return to the immediate past, that which we remember fondly as “the normal,” but to reimagine a new future, a renewed humanity, a more just and therefore sustainable culture, and one even filled with joy.” [1]
I wrote about this in an Oboedire series entitled, “Desert Wisdom” that ran from January 2011 through March 2013—with 108 posts. It is archived on the Oboedire home page if you want to give it a look and explore desert spirituality beyond what I am writing about it today.
In this post, I want to name some key benefits from returning to the desert in the midst of the challenging times we are experiencing today.
First and foremost, it is a return to the rest needed for restoration. Perpetrators of evil design their work to be chaotic because they know turmoil wears us out. Exhaustion sets in, and with it a passivity takes hold, one which allows darkness to advance because we are depleted of energy trying to overcome it. The first disciples experienced this, and Jesus’ words to them were, “Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest for awhile” (Mark 6:31(, a pattern he followed himself (Luke 5:15-16). As someone has said, “Coming apart is what keeps us from coming a part.”
Second, it is a return to the centrality of love. The desert mothers and fathers rooted themselves in agapé as described in the two great commandments (Matthew 22:34-40) and the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). In his excellent study of early Christianity, Douglas Burton-Christie noted that for the ammas and abbas, holiness was nothing but love—filling the soul and overflowing in kindness. [2] A return to the desert is a new embrace of life as defined by the two great commandments and expressed through the fruit of the Spirit.
Third, it is a return to simplicity. Thomas More wrote about our contemporary tendency to perceive and promote complexification. [3] We operate with a quantified spirituality, where “more is better” and “bigger is better.” The way I have seen holy simplicity is by traveling to places where Christianity is thriving without most of the accessories we take for granted. Some of the things we think are essential are things they have never heard of! I know firsthand how little is necessary in order to be a follower of Jesus.
Fourth, it is a return to lived theology. Early Christianity did not have doctrines and dogmas in the ways we have them today. There were words, of course, complete with conferences (e.g. John Cassian) and consultations. But seekers of Wisdom approached their ammas and abbas with the request, “Give me a word that I may live.” Living faith was the intent, being “doers of the word and not hearers only” (James 1:22). The way of the desert combines knowledge and vital piety in a way of life exemplified by Jesus and made possible in us by the Holy Spirit.
A return to the desert is not escape; it is engagement with the things that feed our souls and fuel our resolve. We must follow the example of our predecessors who, in times of turmoil, followed the counsel of the first Christians, “flee, be silent and pray.” [4] The way of the desert is the way forward.
[1] Matthew Fox, Julian of Norwich: Wisdom in a Time of Pandemic—and Beyond (Universe, 2020), xvii.
[2] Douglas Burton-Christie, The Word in the Desert (Oxford University Press, 1993).
[3] Philip Zaleski, ed., The Best Spiritual Writing 2000 (HarperSanFrancisco, xvii-xxiii.
[4] Henri Nouwen, The Way of the Heart (Seabury, 1981).
Steve Harper 2024
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The Rev. Dr. Steve Harper is retired seminary professor who taught for 32 years in the disciplines of Spiritual Formation and Wesley Studies. Author and co-author of more than fifty books.. He is also a retired elder in The Florida Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church.