The wind in the wilderness

Wisdom is not gained by age. Wisdom comes from God Who whispers it to the heart of a person: young, middle-aged or old. Everyone can hear it -- if and when one chooses to live a simplified life. A life of simplicity is an invitation to live in the spiritual wilderness. The wilderness experience leads one to his own heart 'where God speaks.' Life in excess shuts up our spiritual ears from hearing it. 

Desert Four: Trust amidst desert

'No man is an island' -- but I am an island: am I no man? 

Not only an island -- but an island of desert: am I cursed? 

Or: has Heaven a Hand on this experience? 

Ah, a flicker of understanding now I see: It is You, O God, Who author this experience of my soul! 

But my mind is yet clouded as to grasp the Divine Reason behind all this. 

In time, I know, will I fully understand. 

I trust 

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Desert Three: Sighs in the desert

God, You are an all-knowing God. You know that I am already so tired of waiting, so exhausted of giving. Until when are You going to keep me in wait, to stop the test? Yet, You have promised, Lord; You have promised; fulfill Your promises now -- please? But who can question Your Wisdom? Who can say You're wrong? But I am human. I am already extracted. No more tears left. I am as dry as a desert. No one else is here. I am all alone. It seems hard to get up. I thirst. And the air I breathe is heat. Yet my lungs cannot help but accept it. Sighs! -- sighs! -- sighs! -- are all I hear. I want to leave -- I need to. Where should I go? -- but, You alone are God.

Desert One: A complaining Job

Please, God, I beg You to treat me not as though dead. A corpse that cannot react to any stimulus. Though limited is my knowledge, I know I have had enough. "You have suffered long enough," You said, not once but thrice or more. And yet, I'm still suffering. Please do give me a lift -- if burdened is what You see in me. I am under a curse; in fact, piles of curses have afflicted me because of my ancestral sins. To the best I could, I have done whatever You say would release me from bondage. But I am still in bondage. Is this how great the curse is being handed down to me by my ancestors? I should have been freed by now, even from a curse or two! Or, is it You Who choose not to give me this freedom? Am I Your toy? Yes, You can do with me as You please. But -- please, God -- I ain't saintly as Therese of the Child was. She who gave herself entirely to You as Toy. I, too, am Your toy -- but a complaining toy as Job.

Dessert of the soul

Abandonment is a real desert, it pains you both interiorly and exteriorly: you are left all alone by those whom you think love you unconditionally, even Love Itself, God. A true test of faith! But when we find ourselves in such a situation, run immediately to your oasis: TRUST IN THE LORD! For, He knows what He is doing and He knows what He is about. And when we are through in this experience, we come to realize it is not a desert after all, but a dessert of the soul.