The wilderness will blossom

Isaiah 35 :1 - 10

The desert and the parched land will be glad...

It does take time to settle down, to transition into a retreat. This I found out again the past few days. I had hoped to have some time in Singapore to spend in quiet, away from the usual routine. Yesterday, I was able to come to quiet within, to begin to ponder the many questions I have brought with me......questions about direction and priorities at this mid- point phase of my life. This time of many questions does seem to 'hit' people at my age. Last week, I was glad to hear a friend who is the same age comment that she too has many questions these days. I guess we can find encouragement by sharing and speaking about our lives honestly with one another, trusting in God's abiding presence as we do so. We are not there to give answers to others, but to help them honor their questions and encourage them to keep searching their hearts and listen to that quiet Voice amid the clamor of other voices. And sometimes, this journey seems almost like searching for an oasis in a desert. The reality is surely there, but the direction and path may not be obvious in a landscape that seems endlessly the same wherever we turn.
For the ancient Hebrew people, the desert was not only barren land, but often the place where humans encounter God. The sparse landscape, the absence of distractions, the dryness and lack of vegetation seemed to render the human heart more receptive to God's word and more dependent upon God's mercy. Thus, the desert, for all its seeming desolation, was found by many, for example by the Desert Fathers and Mothers, to be an experience of grace and the renewal of life.

Our spirituality often promises to help us "feel good" and those that do not are not popular. Those of us who struggle with the frailty that is a normal part of "being human" do sometimes feel out of place in such a spiritual climate. We feel like outcasts in a dry and lifeless land. Yet, even as we cry out to God in our need, there are graced times when we start to experience his refreshing grace. Our feeble hands and our knees that give way, our fearful hearts are strengthened, for we have encountered God. He comes to us even in the desert, which stretches endlessly for miles.

This is a promise to all those especially in the spiritual condition of 'desolation'. In such a condition, which I have personally experienced, life is drab. Nothing seems to cheer and it takes much effort to recall and hold on to my faith. Sorrow and sighing seem to be fit the mood. It does seem that faith has lost all its richness, or that indeed it is enfeebled (as the knees and hands are unsteady). The condition of 'desolation' (as long as it is not due to personal sin or rebellion) is one of testing. It will not last 'forever' as one in such a condition would think. But, in time, God will come. At such a time, water will gush forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert.

The great spiritual masters have advised those in desolation to seek out help. We cannot remain steadfast all on our own. Most times, just a patient listening ear from a spiritual guide will give us that bit of strength to go on despite the drabness of life.

In God's time, gladness and joy will overtake us and sorrow and sighing will flee away. Amen