What is it like to live in the desert?
There’s nothing romantic about living in the desert. You notice your inner demons surfacing, so the solitude can be challenging. The desert experiences of John the Baptist and Jesus and those of the desert fathers and mothers have become more real to me. In one of his books, Thomas Merton says that they withdrew to the desert, after the church accepted the concept of the just war theory and sided with the empire, so that they could keep the vision of the Gospel alive. How do you pray? Without quality time in private prayer, I’d burn out and give up. So I try to spend 30 to 40 minutes daily simply sitting with Jesus, telling him my concerns and then trying to be open to what he is saying. This has helped me grow in peace, hope and love. I find Jesus is always encouraging me and sending me out to do the works of peace and justice. I’ve always tried to have a spiritual director also, who can act as an unbiased referee between God and me. He helps me see where God is in my life and work. I
