Peter Owen Jones, Letters from an Extreme Pilgrim

Does sitting in one place qualify as being a pilgrim? Perhaps it does if you are a Sussex vicar, and that sitting place is a grotto in the Egyptian desert, home to hermits, monks and nuns since the earliest days of the Church.

Peter Owen Jones borrowed the cave of Father Lazarus, 45 minutes' walk from the cell of Saint Anthony, first of the Desert Fathers, to 'live a very strict life of prayer, eating only one full meal a day.' (p. ix) And part of this life of prayer was the writing of letters to people who helped make him the man he is today.

These include our would-be master and prince of this world, Satan, who rules by fear. Owen Jones's signing off with, 'all my love, Peter', suddenly makes sense if we remember that 'perfect love casts out fear' (1John4:19).

Many things seem to have made sense when seen from the perspective of the desert, though at times a sense beyond logical thought, a sense of wonder. What was it you went out to see? A memory of a hedge sparrow's (or dunnock's) nest, described in a letter to God:

'As you know, for their nests they weave grass and hair precisely into a small deep bowl, which they line with moss to the point where it shines. And there they were, four varnished blue eggs sitting in this deep smooth green... we were both in a state of wonder and whilst I was alone, I realised I wasn't alone - you were there in state of wonder. You were present.' (p45)

To his adoptive father he writes, 'It was only when your eldest granddaughter was about three years old that I realised that being a father was something separate: it is a love all of its own' (p15)

What did you go out to see? A good deal of seeing, of realising, is recorded in this little book. Every chapter represents a challenge that Owen-Jones faced; a chance to realise how other people had influenced his life for better or worse, and to accept himself, his own mortality as well as the loss of family and friends.

My wife read Letters from an Extreme Pilgrim through and enjoyed it almost before I had brought it into the house. I know who I will pass it on to. She'll have it in time for Lent, and so will you if you buy on line now.

Peter Owen Jones, Letters from an Extreme Pilgrim, London, Rider Books