by Joan Mitchell, CSJ
For many, a desert is a dry, lifeless place — perhaps a metaphor for a painful, unrewarding time in life. But for people who live in arid ecosystems, a desert is a place where trees grow deep roots and plants succulent stems. A desert holds hidden springs and sheltering valleys.
Israel’s wilderness (the Negev) is not a desert of sand dunes. Its scrubby trees and dry grasses green in the winter rainy season. In places the limestone hills hide beautiful springs where water gushes seemingly out of nowhere. The wilderness surrounds visitors with light, sky, quiet, beauty, space, horizons.
Solitude in a beautiful place restores one’s connectedness with God as Creator and with the Spirit in whom we live and move and have our being. The wilderness is about integrating the self, restoring the heart to awe and praise, sighting again on the horizon one’s own deepest purpose in life.
In the desert the people of Israel drank from springs in the rock, ate migrating quail, and found daily sustenance on the bushes. The desert deepened Israel’s experience of God’s sustaining love. In the desert Jesus deepened his response to the Spirit.
- What experiences of solitude have restored you to awe, praise, and purpose?