gull in flight

In the sayings of the Desert Fathers and Mothers, there’s another strange story. There were three friends who were monks, all earnest and faithful. One of them, motivated by the call in Matthew’s Gospel to be a peacemaker, chose to spend his time seeking to “make peace between men who were at odds.” The second monk, motivated by Christ’s concern for the vulnerable, decided to “visit the sick.” The third chose to “go away to be quiet in solitude.”

Many might think the monk wasted his life. What did he contribute to society, or to the GDP, or to the causes of justice?