The Desert of Our Lives

In the Gospel for the 2nd Sunday of Advent, John writes about a man who was sent by God (John 1:6-8, 19-28). He is “the voice of one crying out in the desert”. His message is clear: “make straight the way of the Lord”

The Voice

The voice is John the Baptist who recognises Jesus and comes to testify to the light. The Baptist’s time spent in the desert prepared him for his ministry of preparing the way for Jesus. The desert is a wasteland filled with silence and solitude, where land is untouched and life is simple. In Biblical times, people often believed that demons lived in the desert where they could be met and fought. 

Spiritual Wasteland

It doesn’t take a camel ride into the desert to realize that demons can be found here and fighting them tests our strength. It’s usually a battle that is fought alone. But isn’t that how it is in life? The “desert” of our own lives can be a time when we feel we are living in a wasteland. Like in the desert, we can’t see anything in front of us and we can’t see where we have been. 

Homework

There are many people who wander around in this kind of a desert for years, maybe even a lifetime, struggling to understand the disappointments in life, of failed relationships, illness, financial stress and unemployment. These things test our faith, but if we try to think of struggles as time in the desert, taking time for prayer and contemplation, maybe we can see the beauty of the many oasis’ in the desert and in our lives. St. Paul reminds us to “rejoice always and pray without ceasing. Test everything; retain what is good.” This is the only way to help get us through the dryness of the desert and “make straight the way of the Lord”