Desert of Our Soul
We
go through seasons of dryness
Spiritual
desert
Desolate
Forsaken
Forgotten
We
are in the desert
Where
there is no water
No
relief in sight
Parched
Scorched
Panting
Tongue
sticking to the roof of our mouth
Dry
Miserable
No relief
in sight
Scorching
heat in the day
Freezing
cold in the morning
and
frigid air at night
No
relief
Panting
Pain
Misery
Sometimes
numbness
Drowning
in our sorrow and misery
Where
is God we say
Where
has He gone
Where
is this all-attentive Father we supposedly have
Why
the misery
Why
the abandonment
Why
the silence
Why
forsaken
My
God My God Why have You forsaken me
If
Christ called out this cry on the cross
He
can relate to our cry
Our
powerlessness
Our
pain and misery
We quickly
forget God’s goodness of the past
Even
of the recent past
All
we see is the present circumstance
Pain
Desolation
When
our gaze is taken off the Giver of our life
And
focused on the desert of our surrounding
We
forfeit His presence
His
ever-present PRESENCE
Even
as our circumstance doesn’t change
Even
when we don’t feel His presence
He
is present
Here
with us
Emmanuel
God
came to earth as a tiny baby
Powerless
No
place to rest
Joseph
and Mary seem deserted
On the
night when the Messiah was to be born
Young
virgin to give birth to her first child
With
no one to aid
Helpless
Desolate
Abandoned
Panting
Of
labor pain
No
midwife to aid
No
bed to receive the baby
But
a bed of straw
The
only witnesses
Were
the animals in the stable
The
smell of child birth mingled with the dung of the stable
Where
is God
No
room
No
aid
The
angels sang nearby the shepherds
But no
angels were seen in the stable
at
the time of the birth
My
God
My
God
This
great task
To
give birth to the Messiah
Without
aid
None
with room
As
there was no room in the inn
None
to coach
As
there was no midwife
Just
a young virgin
And
her husband who has never fathered a child
With
this great task
My
God
My
God
Where
are You
Darkness
Pain
Abandonment
Insurmountable
task
With
no aid
Just
the silent and unseen presence
The
Presence of God
Not
seen by human eyes
Not
seen in the circumstance
God’s
Presence
What
He promises us
Not
bed of roses
Not
smooth sailing
Not
life without pain
Not
joy without sorrow
His
Presence
Even
when the presence is
Silent
Unseen
Unfelt
He
was there
He
is still here
In
our desert
Our
dark night of the soul
The
angels
Shepherds
Three
wise men
Came
after the fact
After
the birth
Where
young Mary and first time father
Had
to give birth
And
receive the baby Messiah
On
their own
After
that
Celebration
Yes
much celebration came
After
the desolation
The
abandonment
The
dark circumstance
After
the desert
This
desert
This
seemingly unending desert
There
will be respite
Water
Relief
Even
celebration
Celebration
That
God was here all along
In
the stillness
In
the silence
In
the unseen
Presence
God’s
presence
There
and then
Here
and now
Ever-present
The
Presence of God
