Orienting Ourselves to the Desert -Spiritual Spring Cleaning

I don't have a catholic bone in my body. I am not certain I have even been to Mass. However, as I have grown spiritually I have discovered divine gems of spiritual pathway that line the Catholic traditions.  Lent is one of them.  It is defines a sacred time of readying...clearing space for God's dwelling.  Something feels strong and right-making in the allocation of days purposed for spiritual "spring cleaning". 

I am so thankful that God knows we are a people that need to be interrupted. Our routine, obligations, mundane, the centripetal forcing us to the outside edges for the sake of productivity.  They all just go on and on unless we throw an intentional monkey wrench into them. That is what Lent is.

 A merciful monkey wrench into our time.  

An invitation to pay attention to what is unseen.  This is the invitation offered by Henri Nouwen:

"We have to fashion our own desert where we can withdraw every day, shake off our compulsions and dwell in the gentle healing presence of the Lord.  Without such a desert we will lose our own souls while preaching the gospel to others"

What is so compelling about a desert?

 In many Bible versions the word "wilderness" is used.  It is possibly the only environment in which we put down our shields and masks and to-do lists and are disarmed of what fills so that we are free with room to carry the blessing.  It may be the only place the background noise of life quiets down so we can hear the still Small Voice.

Strong's Concordance gives a helpful picture: I n Scripture, a "desert" (2048 /érēmos) is ironically also where God richly grants His presence and provision for those seeking Him. The limitless Lord shows Himself strong in the "limiting" (difficult) scenes of life. 2048 érēmos – properly, an uncultivated, unpopulated place; a desolate (deserted) area; (figuratively) a barren, solitary place that also provides needed quiet (freedom from disturbance).

What are our compulsions?

Our to-do list....Orienting ourselves to our to-do list, as so many of us do first thing in the day, is a soul numbing way of life.  It leaves us always feeling like we have not done enough.  Because it was not meant to be the gatekeeper of our "enoughness". 

Depression...that low weight that you try to ignore but creates background static in our minds of hopeless. Nothing is really going to change. It's too much trouble, it has been this way too long.

Anxiety...living with that feeling in your chest that something right around the bend is a disaster.  Something is not going to hold together, something is going to fall apart, something is going to be unacceptable, something is NOT ok.  Rushed, hustling, hair-on-fire, chasing your own tail...all words I would describe my flavor of this neurosis.

Acceptance...am I pleasing, desirable, worth keeping?  Worth speaking with, worth honoring, admirable, praiseworthy?  All questions that haunt us women in particular salinity.

Our children's well beings...yes, even those precious wellbeings that we would die for, give our everything for...do we fret, bow to, get swallowed up by, loose ourselves,  in waking up to chase after the job that is never satisfied?  When is there rest? When is there all is well?

Our significant others...

Our careers...

Our finances...

Our wine or chocolate...

Our perfectionism, skepticism, judgment...

...On and on...

Living in opposition to our compulsions is not a onetime deal.  It requires daily practice that can reveal to us compulsions and inner distractions that cause us to "lose our own souls while preaching the Gospel to others".

And the Lenten days are set aside for a special dose of such.

Opens the soul windows so God's sweet breath can blow through refreshing and unobstructed.

Clears the way for the best poised reception of the Easter message...it's not too early to start preparing. It is a good theory that the more you prepare, the sweeter the reception of that Easter  message. 

So, how do we find our desert? It is that cultivating the unseen in a materially-magnetized landscape.  

Here is some simple advice:

1) Set aside time. Non-negotiable, scheduled in red, guarded and fought for time.  Maybe you need 30 minutes. Maybe you need an hour. Your wise self knows... ask her (or him).

2)  Focus on your breathing.  "Still and quiet your soul" (Psalm 131). Slow down your and come to a stop.  This starts with breathing and focusing on breathing forces you to "arrive". Show up. Be more than physically present. (Prayer Breaths)

3)  Don't worry about wandering thoughts, don't get caught up in evaluating feelings.  Let them pass by like clouds moving through the sky of your mind.  As Brother Lawrence advises: "I found a great deal of pain in this exercise trying to not get angry when my mind wandered involuntarily. I made this my business throughout the entire day in addition to my appointed times of prayer. At all times, every hour, every minute, even at my busiest times, my practice was to drive away from my mind everything that was capable of interrupting my thought of God".  In a nut shell, if your mind wanders from prayer, simply bring it back.

4)  Sit with your palms down, and think of all the things you need to give or hand over to the Lord in your day or in your circumstances.  Take a few minutes to do so. Then, flip your palms up, and ask God to help you receive those things you need or he would want you to have for your day or your circumstance.

5) Now you are in your desert.  Read Scripture. Journal. Be still.  "Dwell in the gentle healing presence of the Lord"

Feel stuck? Need some personal attention to sort out those compulsions?  Just reach out. I as always  will find it such a blessing to help you through.  Many times taking someone else with you to the wilderness of your compulsions is the added strength you need to sort through them and lay them to rest.