I was invited by His Beatitude Archbishop Theophilus of Northern CA, Nevada, and Arizona to visit and preach at his newly established St. John the Baptist and St. Arsema monastery in the wilderness of San Miguel, CA; along the historic El Camino Real, which I studied in 4th grade. I reference: Gen 16; Ezekiel 20; Psalm 135 (136); 1 John 4 When I read a verse or two, or three, of any given chapter, you can safely assume that you are being invited to eat the whole chapter, at minimum, and the whole book, at maximum, thus being sucked into scripture. Trust the medley of metaphors. I also mention: St. Isaac the Syrian, St. John Saba the Spiritual Elder, and Aba Pambo of the Desert Fathers. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit aksum.substack.com/subscribe