How to Focus with John Cassian

Part XXVI of the Ancient Wisdom for Modern Readers series

[Based on How to Focus: A Monastic Guide for an Age of Distraction, by John Cassian, translated by Jamie Kreiner. Full book series here.]

These days we talk a lot about being constantly distracted by our gadgets, and we are right to worry about our ever decreasing attention span. But this is not a new problem at all. Sixteen centuries ago, when the relatively novel “gadget” around was called a book, and when there were not only no smart watches, but no watches at all, people still faced the problem of distraction. Especially monks, who really wished to pay more attention to living a meaningful life than to anything else.

One such monk was John Cassian, born in the Roman province of Scythia Minor around 360, and who died in Massilia (Transalpine Gaul) around 435. He was one of the first Christian monks, as well as one of the last Romans (the empire collapsed on 4 September 476, when the last emperor, Romulus Augustulus, was deposed by Odoacer).

John at first joined the monastery in Bethlehem when he was in his twenties. There he met his friend Germanus, and the two traveled to the Nile delta, seeking wisdom from members of the famed local monastic communities. At some point, however, those communities became embroiled in…