CONQUERING OF THE WILDERNESS

“Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, where for forty days He was tempted by the devil.”  (Luke 4:1-2a NIV)

When sorrow comes, let us accept it simply, as a part of life. Let the heart be open to pain; let it be stretched by it. All the evidence that we have says that this is the better way. An open heart never grows bitter. Or if it does, it cannot remain so. In the desolate hour, there is an outcry; a clenching of the hands upon emptiness; a burning pain of bereavement; a weary ache of loss. But anguish, like ecstasy, is not forever. There comes a gentleness, a returning quietness, a restoring stillness. This, too, is a door to life. Here, also, is a deepening of meaning -- and it can lead to dedication; a going forward to the triumph of the soul, the conquering of the wilderness. And in the process will come a deepening inward knowledge that in the final reckoning, all is well.

-- A. Powell Davies in “Life Prayers”


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EMPTY AND RECEPTIVE

How much easier it is for most of us to give than it is to receive.  When we are in a giving mode, we are generally strong and in charge.  Sometimes we have to be brought to our knees before we are ready to receive.  This is when events and circumstances of life take over and do the emptying for us.  Maybe a bout of extended illness, or the trauma of a divorce, or the heartache of a loved one's death empties us.  When we cannot stand on our own strength, when we do not have the inner resources we normally have, we are being readied to receive.  When we are empty and poor inside, we finally realize that we have to rely on someone else giving us what we need.

Many things are given to us when we are receptive -- gifts such as a deeper understanding about ourselves and about life, a stronger union with God, a much fuller appreciation of friends and loved ones, a new look at things we so easily took for granted, a renewed vision of life that we only dimly glimpsed before.

At first we may not be receptive to what is being offered.  What is being poured into the receptive cup of our hearts may seem to be unneeded by us, or it may initially challenge us, or frighten us.  We may not want to hear the truth about our illusions, or take a giant risk of change, or to make a huge leap of belief in ourselves and others, or to accept a love like God's that is so total and unconditional.

-- Joyce Rupp in The Cup of Our Life

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