Journey Back to Eden: My Life and Times Among the Desert Fathers

by Mark Gruber

An American Benedictine monk chronicles the year he lived among the Coptic monks of Egypt, detailing a mysterious, spiritually challenging world saturated in prayer and silence. Original. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1570754330
• ISBN13: 9781570754333
• Release Date: January 2002
• Publisher: Orbis Books
• Length: 208 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 6.1" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Terrific

I don't know which was more interesting, the author's anthropological observations or his spiritual journey. Both fascinating and enlightening. Originally, Br. Gruber sets out to study the fathers of monasticism with a scholar's eye (albeit a fellow Monk-scholar), but the desert and those who live there transform him eternally. This book is a fresh drink of water! Here are my favorite passages: "In all of this," Abuna Elia said, "the desert was a teacher for Abraham. The desert teaches us how helpless we are, how much we depend upon one another for survival. It is with a complete sense of dependence, a complete sense of helplessness that we must approach God, and that we must approach one another in terms of possessiveness and control." "By complete openness and availability to one another, we are obedient to each other in matters of charity. We are at each other's service.... But at the same time... our relationships must be ordered by a surrender, a letting go, a sacrifice. We own no one; we possess no one." "Abuna Elia assured me that the sacrifices we make in our lives as Monks, as Christians, will always be enfolded in layer upon layer of the sacrifices that went before us." "Abuna Elia said, 'When God asks us to make heroic sacrifices, it is not because he is heedless of what we are giving up; he is profoundly aware of it. When we are offering gifts to God, we are not really offering much, unless, at the same time, we are also submitting all those things that are valuable to us. We must submit to God's will everything which is dearest to us, that which is our only one of something, that which we love, that which is even beyond our ordinary capacity to imagine losing. Otherwise, all of our prayers and protestations of fidelity are somewhat strategic and not genuine or sincere." pp42-43 Later, during a time of pilgrim visits, the author is left with the small children to care for. He builds a fire and answers their endless questions about heaven, about "what it is like to see Jesus there," about Mary, about who God is. Night falls and the children keep talking until they fall asleep by the fire. "So there I was, sitting by the dying fire, with all of these sleeping children around me. I looked at them in the starlight and the moonlight and was touched by the fact that they are so filled with faith so innocently seeking God. This is the second time since coming here to Egypt that I have found myself in exactly the same setting, surrounded by young people asking questions and listening to answers, tiring themselves out into exhaustion and sleep. And, just as before, there is once again that stabbing realization that none of these are my children, that I shall never have children such as these to instruct and teach." "I looked up at the sky on this beauiful, clear desert night. I thought to myself that I had never seen such an array of stars, so numerous and so bright. Then, of course, at this moment, the passage from the

Great for Copts and non-Copts!

+Peace and graceAs a Coptic Orthodox Christian, I found this book an awesome read. It is rare to find a non-Copt who writes honestly, objectively and reverently of our church despite the sad schism between us and the Chalcedonians. Father Mark Gruber has written beautifully of our spirituality and of his own. His comments are insightful, honest, and often quite hilarious. I found it especially funny as an Egyptian to see his reactions and interpretations to certain things we say and do! There is much to learn from this book, Copts even get to see a glimpse of our Pope in casual walks!I would like to meet the author himself. This is a great book, and I reccomend it to all.

A delightful and insightful journey

When enjoying this page-turner, the reader has to remind themselves from time to time that they are reading a non-fiction account. Father Mark's journey,which he unselfishly invites us to participate, is enthralling. The sights, sounds and personalities of the monastic subculture he describes are unknown to most of us, but are truly worthy of exploration. What begins as an academic pursuit evolves into a mission, sanctified in the most austere and remote corners of the Egyptian desert. Yet, the intensely sacrificial life of the desert monks, does not subjucate the reader. Instead, Father Mark's account brings to life the divine richness of their existance. To delight in this gem of a book, one does not need to be deeply religious. However, it is hard to imagine that a reader could participate in this expedition with Father Mark without being transformed spiritually, as he was.

Opening a window on a mysterious world

Father Mark Gruber, a Benedictine monk of St. Vincent Archabbey in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, came to Stony Brook University in the early 80s to study for his doctor of philosophy in anthropology.In his second year of study at Stony Brook, Father Gruber enrolled in a dissertation methodology class in order to hasten his degree program. Much to his astonishment, on the first day of class the professor announced that if students did not have dissertation topics, a compiled bibliography and completed research, they should not be in the class. When asked for his topic, Gruber responded, without thinking and knowing almost nothing about the topic, "Egypt. I shall investigate the Coptic people of Egypt." And thus, he began his study of the desert monasteries of the Coptic monks in Egypt, which would culminate in a year-long ethnographic fieldwork in Egypt. Now, many years since his doctoral work was completed at Stony Brook University, Gruber has written a journal of his experiences as a student of anthropology and a Benedictine monk in a world in which the secular and spiritual are deeply intertwined. The book, Journey Back to Eden: My Life and Times among the Desert Fathers (Orbis: New York, 2002), offers readers an insight into the daily lives of the Coptic monks, Coptic Christians and the world in which they live, a world which is largely Arab and Islamic. It is an affectionate portrait, full of profound respect for the Coptic church.Father Gruber's journal of his year with the Copts cannot be called a travelogue of the trials and tribulations of a young American student in Egypt. Throughout his day-to-day activities and frustrations lies a deeper insight into the people of a world in which all things are influenced by the spiritual. In the early days of his journey, for example, he tells of building a sand castle on a beach. Father Gruber is accosted by some young Muslim boys who accuse him of spreading Christianity in Egypt, mistaking his sand castle for a church. Egypt is truly a place of discovery, Gruber says, " ... seeing the character of these people and how deeply their religious concerns and issues preoccupy them and how they tend to interpret everything they experience through the prism of their faith. In seconds, the boys kicked down the towers of my castles and ran away ... triumphant or afraid?" He also learns with some amazement of the Copts' respect for monks and priests, and he marvels at finding himself standing in churches using a handcross on lines of pilgrims who approach for blessings. On another occasion, he is baffled by an encounter with two Muslim brothers who, thinking there is a bad spirit in their house after their father's death, ask Father Gruber to bless the house. When he expresses his puzzlement, they respond that this is perfectly acceptable, and he should not fear any problems would persist. He is told not to interpret this as a secret vote of confidence from the Moslems. A friend tells him Moslems rationalize that

An American Benedictine with the Desert Fathers

As a student of Father Mark Gruber O.S.B. at Saint Vincent College, I heard much about how he studied in Egypt for his doctoral dissertation. In due time, while browsing the shelves in the gift shop for the Basillica at the College, I found this book on the shelf. Having heard many good reviews of it from others, I decided to purchase it. Indeed, it was by far a most excellent purchase.This narrative details the events of his life while he lived among the Coptic monks ov Egypt for a year doing research for his doctoral dissertation in Anthropology. However, this is by far more than a story of just his life. It is a story of grace, faith, and coming to know God more through our world. Through all of his experiences in Egypt, Father Gruber's faith was strengthened. The Copts, contemplating God and loving him whole-heartedly, taught Father Gruber not only about their customs and theology but also showed him a living example of true faith in God.Father Gruber stresses at end of the work how important his time in Egypt was to him. What he gained is not only visible in his personal life. Indeed, as I said above, I have experienced him as a professor. After reading this book, I have realized that many of his lectures in my Biblical Archaeology (Anthropology) class come from lessons he learned from the Copts in Egypt.In the end, this "spiritual journal" brings to Americans the rich spirituality of the Coptic monks in Egypt. This is by far an excellent book for anyone who wishes to view our Christian faith from a wise, monastic perspective and to be challenged to live out our faith in God more fully.