The three Abrahamic faiths all have wilderness as a fundamental experience of their faith: Abraham’s wanderings; Israelites 40 years in the desert; John the Baptist; Jesus.
Why is the desert significant? What characteristics make it important?
Empty; silent; barren.
A place of struggle and survival.
Finding a sense of self in relation to God and to creation.
When Haggar fled she went to the wilderness and God found her by a spring he asked her:
Who are you? Where are you going?
We all need the God of the desert to find us.
The desert can offer us three gifts:
Learning to see
Empty space
Solitariness and meeting
Moses could not fail to see the burning bush because, in the wilderness, such a thing cannot be hidden. Deserts are places where pretence is no longer possible, only the truth suffices.
Deserts are places to learn new truths about yourself.
From a JM member who wishes to remain anonymous
Picture Ivan Kramskoi, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons