Have you walked in the desert? Movie scenes are conjured up in my mind from adolescent movies. The one that sears the most is Lawrence of Arabia. A powerful film that left a deep impression on me that included amazing desert scenes that I hadn't seen before.
What I noticed most, but didn't understand at the time, was when Peter O' Toole decided to cross part of a desert that was supposedly impassable. Somehow he made it, but almost died. It enabled him to help conquer a particular coastal city as a result. That journey though, changed him.
I tend to favor forests but deserts have a certain appeal. They have hidden lessons....Many who have traveled them find them....I am reading about a family who traveled the desert wilderness for 8 years. A guy named Nephi tells most of the story. Moses was another. 40 years wandering with thousands.... I guess it took longer for them to learn what they needed to. John the Baptist was raised in the desert. He learned what he needed to..... and although I hesitate to mention so close to other biblical names....... but I must, Mad Max also learned a few things out there as well.....
What is it about the desert?
“God takes everyone he loves through a desert.
It is his cure for our wandering hearts, restlessly searching for a new Eden...
The best gift of the desert is God's presence...
The protective love of the Shepherd gives me courage to face the interior journey.”
― Paul E. Miller,
I find this fascinating. The day this picture was taken I wasn't taking any spiritual journey, I wasn't doing a reflective retreat with a solo experience, rather I was taking some pictures of things that caught my inner eye. I did feel it beckoning though..... The solace of being in the middle of a desert is an awesome thing to consider.
“The thing about tears is that they can be as quiet as a cloud floating across the desert sky.”
Do we have to go there? Will I know the time and place?
I have been to the desert. Many times. I believe this quote. I believe it is one of the things we each must do in life is traverse our own wilderness and personal desert. There are lessons that can only be learned there. It is supposed to be solitary, strange, soulful and scarce.
“I shivered in those
solitudes
when I heard
the voice
of
the salt
in the desert.”
― Pablo Neruda
One of my all-time favorite books is "The Little Prince." The entire story practically takes place in the desert. We get an inside glimpse of a most remarkable person who finds his way, and more importantly, we find such deep life meaning with a simple plane crash (reminiscent of the "English Patient" themes) in the desert with just a few interactions this solitary figure experiences. Reading it again makes me wonder if it was just a dream--just lovely hallucinations, yet I know in my heart the lessons are absolutely real.
“I have always loved the desert. One sits down on a desert sand dune, sees nothing, hears nothing. Yet through the silence, something throbs, and gleams...”
― Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince
It creates a certain kind of vulnerability where we are stripped of all things and we are laid bare in our essence to our creator. It is a purifying walk. No one can help us. It is the ultimate solo gig. If you haven't traveled across your internal desert yet, you will. I believe it comes to all of us. I think some of my own are traveling it now.... they may not know it, but it has occurred to me. I can sense it. I am anxious to see how they come out on the other side. Is it ok for me to hope they find God there? I am praying they will, as I know I have....
“But in the desert, in the pure clean atmosphere, in the silence – there you can find yourself. And unless you begin to know yourself, how can you even begin to search for God?”
― Father Dioscuros
If you are in your desert right now...May you find, after experiencing the rough grist of wind-whipped sand, the strength to carry on with the clarity, peace, and purpose that you need to look forward with new light and new eyes.
No comments:
Post a Comment