Life is a journey. At times our journey seem to go through arid periods. We feel alone and abandoned, even by God. We don't understand what is going on or what has brought us to this point. Is God displeased with us? Is God punishing us? Is this part of our purification? Day in and day out we seem to be trudging alone with a sense of aimlessness and hopelessness. We have no direction. At times it feels that we are going in circles; things look de-ja-vu-familiar, as if we have been at this point before.


Like the Israelites, we remember the times in our own Egypt of bondage, when we had it better, even if we were slaves to sin. At least then we knew what to expect. But here in the desert we are totally dependent and vulnerable. There is no one but ourselves alone. Yes, there are people all around us; there is activity going on; we are going through the motions of daily life, but the spiritual emptiness will not go away. The holy things which use to mean something, use to satisfy us, no longer do.

We cry out and our words seem to drift into space. "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me, far from my prayer, from the words of my cry? O my God, I cry out by day, and you answer not; by night, and there is no relief for me" (Ps 22:2-3). There is no response. Our fear is that no one is listening and no one cares. Not even God. We cry even louder and with more fervor and desperation: "But you, O Lord, be not far from me; O my help, hasten to aid me. Rescue my soul from the sword, my loneliness from the grip of the dog. Save me from the lion's mouth; from the horns of the wild bulls, my wretched life" (Ps 22:20-22). There is only silence after the echo of my plea fades into the desert night.  (To be continued)