The Wandering Holy Men of the Desert

If it is possible for the smirk to become seated permanently in the muscles and wrinkles of the human face, then I am running a risk right now. It is impossible to read a history of early Christianity and not see parallels with bloggers, vloggers, and self-proclaimed holy men of the winter camping scene.

But my smirking is not mean-spirited. I just find the parallels amusing. After all, times are so different now than 400 A.D.; and yet certain psychological drives persist. Why I even know one blowhard on the internet who brags about not using any heat in his camper! (grin.)

Should I give a list of quotes from the book? Maybe that would get too drawn-out. Perhaps it suffices to put in an endorsement for "The First Thousand Years," by Robert Milken (A Global History of Christianity.)

Asceticism is only one parallel between early Christianity and modern desert camping. Consider:

1. The growing pains in any movement; certain forms of decay.
2. Fire-breathing rebellions against that decay.
3. The rise of music, art, and architecture.
4. Ritual and rules versus psychological 'fire.'
5. A new aristocracy; dreamers being replaced by administrators and career bureaucrats.
6. Peasant rebellions against this new elitism.
7. Rivalries between gurus.
8. Bottom-up conversions versus top-down.
9. Conflicts with 'others.' 
10. Should membership be restricted to a small hard core of spiritual athletes, or should standards be lowered to take in the masses? I can't help thinking about that one, as I listen to the generator of my camping neighbor.