Wisdom School – Silence and Honey Cakes: Lessons from the Desert for Modern Communities

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SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2026

with the Rev. Sr. Miriam Elizabeth Bledsoe, OSH

From the beginning, we were created for belonging and community. And yet, community also comes with many challenges, including the temptations of individualism, conformity, competition and power. How do we discern and nourish the truth of who we are and who our neighbor is? How do we manage the variations of gifts, limitations, calls and vocations within our communities while also nurturing the persons in those communities and in the margins? The desert mothers and fathers of the 3rd and 4th centuries understood that the heart of the Christian path was communion with God and with one another. They also knew the challenges of belonging and community. These ammas and abbas will be our teachers as we explore belonging, loving, and navigating the blessings and temptations that can manifest in community.


About the Presenter

The Rev. Sr. Miriam Elizabeth Bledsoe, OSH

The Rev. Sr. Miriam Elizabeth (Faith) Bledsoe, OSH is a religious sister in the Order of Saint Helena, an Episcopal monastic order for women in North Augusta, SC, where she serves as the Community Leader. She has an active spiritual direction practice and is an experienced retreat leader. She serves as a supply priest in the Diocese of South Carolina and as a mentor for Backstory Preaching, an online ministry that helps preachers grow in the spirituality and craft of preaching. She received her M. Div. in 2002 from the Episcopal Theological Seminary of the Southwest in Austin, TX and served churches in south Texas for nine years before joining the order. Prior to ordination, she worked as a hospital and rehabilitation speech pathologist. She enjoys kayaking on cool mornings, as well as all things creative including preaching, cooking, quilting and making art.

 

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