Everyone really lives in the desert of his or her own cell, his or her own soul. Today this solitary existence is heightened by the loneliness created by the modern world. Perhaps never before in the history of the world have so many people been forced to enter their personal loneliness because of circumstances. The monk enters these deserts voluntarily, whereas now the world is peopled by reluctant monks who have not chosen to be alone. Their loneliness could become communion. The key, of course, is to choose the desert. This book is an attempt to share with all desert dwellers everywhere, the committed and the reluctant, the fruits of what God has taught.