Fired Up, Ready To Go

My packing efforts have been successful! Unless Delta was lying about its carry on measurement guidelines, I won't have to check anything. And even if I am forced to gate check my larger backpack, at least I will be able to personally ensure that my stuff made it onto the plane. However, just as I predicted, I'll be carrying slightly heavier cargo than expected—my advisor emailed Dan and me a request to bring copies of his Arabic/English edition of the Life of John the Little as gifts for our modern day monk friends! I don't mind though, because I know they'll love it. One of the coolest things about working on a dig like mine is that the results actually matter to a whole community of people who care about their distinctive Christian heritage.



In case you forgot, John the Little (previously known as John the Dwarf, but we have better manners now) is the monk after whom we suspect the monastery we are excavating is named. It would make everyone's day if we found rock solid evidence to back that up, such as a wall inscription saying "Hi, this is the monastery of John the Little." But I guess that would take some of the fun out of it. In the Apophthegmata Patrum, or sayings of the desert fathers, there are some pretty good stories about him:

It was said of Abba John the Dwarf that he withdrew and lived in the desert at Scetis with an old man of Thebes. His abba, taking a piece of dry wood, planted it and said to him, "Water it every day with a bottle of water, until it bears fruit." Now the water was so far away that he had to leave in the evening and return the following morning. At the end of three years the wood came to life and bore fruit. Then the old man took some of the fruit and carried it to the church saying to the brethren, "Take and eat the fruit of obedience."

Of course, J the L also reminds us that monastic life is not as austere as it ought to be: "He who gorges himself and talks with a boy has already in his thought committed fornication with him."

I've been excited about this trip all year, but now that I'm on the cusp of leaving it is bittersweet. By tomorrow I'll be having a great adventure, but I also know there are great things to come home to. My apartment is clean and ready to welcome me back, and I've spent the last couple of nights hanging out with my amazing friends. We're all going our separate ways for summer, but we'll be reunited in the fall.