One of the best-known sayings of the desert fathers is this: “In Scetis, a brother went to see Abba Moses and begged him for a word. And the old man said, ‘Go and sit in your cell, and your cell will teach you everything.‘”
Sitting in one’s cell is like resting in one’s grave. It can feel like death. It is learning to do nothing, and indeed, to be nothing: to be, like Abraham, one who is as good as dead. It was then, remember, that God called him out of his deadness to make him into a great people.
The desert truly stretches, breaks unto death, and remakes the soul. It challenges us with one basic command: “Go and sit in your cell, and your cell will teach you everything.”
Source: Soul Making
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