Episode 48: Endure Your Mind

Episode 48: Endure Your Mind

Author: Exodus 90 November 25, 2025 Duration: 13:28

What should we do with intrusive, impure thoughts?

The more we try to push them away, the harder they seem to stick.

If only we had a mental delete button. It’s exhausting to feel like our own minds are working against us.

This week, we see how the Desert Fathers faced this inner battle. 

They don’t promise quick fixes. But they offer a way to weaken these thoughts over time until they lose their grip.

__________

This January, take up the example of the Fathers and embrace a life of prayer, asceticism, and fraternity. Leave behind the pharaohs and idols that keep you enslaved and take up the journey to the promised land. Join tens of thousands of men from all around the world for the Exodus 90 Challenge. We start January 5th, 2026. Download the Exodus 90 app or visit exodus90.com to learn more.

Visit desertfathers.com to join our email newsletter for updates and reflections.

__________

We owe a special thanks to our partners. Desert Fathers with Bishop Erik Varden is...

• 🦉...written by Bishop Erik Varden. You can follow Bishop Varden on his blog

• 🎥 ...produced by EWTN

• 🧡...and brought to you by Exodus 90. Download the Exodus 90 app today!

________


There’s a particular kind of stillness that feels almost impossible to find now, a quiet where you might actually hear something other than the next notification. Desert Fathers with Bishop Erik Varden is built around that search for quiet, drawing direct lines between our fragmented modern experience and the ancient, radical journey of the early Christian monastics. This isn’t a history lesson, though you’ll certainly learn. Instead, Bishop Varden, with the Exodus 90 community, acts as a guide through a year-long exploration, starting at the new year. Each episode becomes a point of reflection, using the stark wisdom of those who went into the literal desert to find God as a mirror for our own crowded lives. You’ll hear their stories and sayings unpacked not as relics, but as surprisingly urgent counsel for anyone feeling parched by the pace and pressure of today’s culture. The rhythm of this podcast is intentional-meant to be absorbed slowly, creating space to consider how their pursuit of essential truth challenges our own attachments and distractions. It’s an invitation to see your own daily landscape, with all its demands and digital noise, as a place where that same transformative silence can be cultivated.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 50

Desert Fathers with Bishop Erik Varden
Podcast Episodes
Episode 42: Scope of Judgement [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 12:15
In this episode of Desert Fathers, Bishop Erik Varden explores the theme of judgment through the lens of the Desert Fathers' teachings, particularly focusing on the story of Abba Isaac. He discusses the dangers of judgin…
Episode 41: Rejection [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 13:10
In this episode of Desert Fathers, Bishop Erik Varden reflects on the teachings of the Desert Fathers, focusing on the themes of forgiveness, community, and the transformative power of God's mercy. Through the story of A…
Episode 40: Q&A w/ Bishop Varden [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:10:43
In this Q&A session with Bishop Erik Varden, Jamie Baxter and Bishop Varden explore:The nature of love and self-forgetfulnessPhilosophical perspectives on progressThe relevance of Stoicism The implications of artificial…
Episode 39: A Low Profile [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 12:35
In this episode of Desert Fathers, Bishop Erik Varden explores the theme of humility through the teachings of the Desert Fathers, particularly focusing on Abba Moses and Abba Simon. He discusses how these figures exempli…
Episode 38: Professions of Humility [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 13:12
In this episode of Desert Fathers, Bishop Erik Varden explores the themes of humility and vainglory through the teachings of Abba Serapion. He discusses the importance of aligning one's words with actions and the dangers…
Episode 37: At the Baker's [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 11:06
In this episode of Desert Fathers, Bishop Erik Varden explores the teachings of the Desert Fathers, focusing on the themes of humility, the dangers of vanity, and the importance of genuine spiritual practices. Bishop Var…
Episode 36: A Fall [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 12:49
In this episode of Desert Fathers, Bishop Erik Varden reflects on the teachings of the Desert Fathers, particularly focusing on the importance of humility and the dangers of pride. Through the story of a young monk who p…
Episode 35: On Hunting Dogs [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 12:51
In this episode of Desert Fathers, Bishop Erik Varden explores the theme of fortitude through the lens of monastic life, using the analogy of a hound pursuing a hare to illustrate the importance of unwavering focus on Ch…
Episode 34: Living with Infirmity [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 13:22
In this episode of Desert Fathers, Bishop Erik Varden and Jamie Baxter explore the theme of fortitude in the face of suffering, particularly through the lens of illness. They reflect on the teachings of Amma Syncletica,…
Episode 33: Xeniteia [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 11:40
In this episode of Desert Fathers, Bishop Erik Varden explores the theme of fortitude through the lens of Xeniteia, a call to solitude and trust in God. He discusses the importance of preparing for trials in the pursuit…