Page 2 - MidWeek Kauai - March 15, 2023

2 KAUA‘I MIDWEEK MARCH 15, 2023
CHASING THE LIGHT
with Rosemary Jermann
These fourth-century Christian spiritual fathers, ascetics who retired to the desert to face their inner demons and seek their God, lived in “groupings,” with each person in his own hut (but they were apparently quite aware of what went on in each other’s huts). Acting on their suspicions, some decided to confront their errant brother. To lend au- thority to the undertaking, they asked the highly re- spected Abba Ammonas to come along. The elder tried to decline, but the young- er monks insisted. Father Ammonas finally agreed to accompany them, but only as a supervisor.
Now, the suspect did indeed have a woman in his cell, and when he saw the group approaching, he asked her to hide in the nearly empty water jar. (It
The story of a woman hiding in a clay jar inspires because it condemns no one, yet encourages all to be aware of their own actions.
Judging, Searching, Finding
“Man is not what he thinks he is, he is what he hides.” — André Malraux
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Some of the monks sus- pected — were sure — that one of their
I love this story (adapt- ed from Benedicta Ward’s translation and telling in The Sayings of the Desert Fathers) because it condemns neither the woman nor the searchers nor the errant monk. It al- lows for human weakness but encourages awareness of what one is doing with one’s life, a first-class ref- erent before judging others — and for discovering one’s self.
Rosemary Jermann does freelance editing after over 30 years of learning, teach- ing, translating and editing at Saint Louis University. She is honored to be editing for “Chasing the Light.”
Chasing The Light is pro- duced by Lynne Johnson and Robin Stephens Rohr.
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cohorts was entertaining a woman in his hut.
was rather tall; you need to store a lot of water when you live in the desert.) He had barely replaced the lid when the group barged in. Father Ammonas briefly surveyed the room, went directly to, and sat on, the water jar. From that perch, he supervised the search — which turned up no one. Deflated, the group of searchers departed, with grumbling reluctance. Now, Father Ammonas stood up,
turned to his host and said gently, “Brother, be aware of what you do.” Then he
bowed and quietly took his leave.
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