

THE WISDOM OF THE DESERT - Thomas Merton
‘Have no confidence in your own virtuousness. Do not worry about a thing once it has been done. Control your tongue and your belly.’ As a haiku-like summary of how best to live, including dietary advice, this is terse and powerful. It doesn’t come courtesy of a self-help manual, but from 4th-century saint Abbot Pambo, one of a group of Christian hermits who removed themselves from society and lived in the Scete Desert in Egypt, praying, fasting and weaving baskets to earn a m