Augustine Institute - MA Theology - 3rd Course, "Light to the Nations" - 1st Writing Assignment
William T. Ward The Many Moves of Saint Antony of the Desert At the age of 33, I purchased a woodlot situated down a gravel road in western Maine, a mile from the nearest neighbor or utility pole. I sought escape from people and to deprive myself of modern conveniences sporadically, where I could do as I liked, answering to no one. I cut down trees and removed stumps, creating a passage to the interior. Two brothers spent a weekend helping to build the shell of a small cabin. Thereafter, occasional weekends and vacations were spent alone, finishing the interior. After a stressful week at my high-tech job, I would drive straight up there, looking forward to the distinct sense of decompression that would invariably follow. Unwittingly, it had become my desert. But was there more to this pursuit on a subconscious level? I could not imagine an act of "sell what you have and give it to the poor" (Matthew 19:21), but I could pretend to have done so on weekends. On a much gr...