Monday, November 28, 2016

 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


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