  Spiritual
This week: Edited by: Sophy  
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Hi, I'm Sophy ~ your editor for this edition of the Spiritual Newsletter. This week we'll talk about the spiritual power of desert wilderness.
The Rev. Scotty McLennan, author of the book Finding Your Religion, compares humanity's innate need for spiritual searching to climbing a mountain. In his view, we are all endeavoring to climb the same figurative mountain in our search for the divine, we just may take different ways to get there. In other words, there is one "God," but many paths. I honor whatever path or paths you have chosen to climb that mountain in your quest for the Sacred. 
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The Spirituality of the Desert
Mechtild of Magdeburg
In the desert,
Turn toward emptiness,
Fleeing the self.
Stand alone,
Ask no one’s help,
And your being will quiet,
Free from the bondage of things.
Those who cling to the world,
Endeavor to free them;
Those who are free, praise.
Care for the sick,
But live alone,
Happy to drink from the waters of sorrow,
To kindle Love’s fire
With the twigs of a simple life.
Thus you will live in the desert.
What is it is that makes a desert a desert? Is it the extensive sand dunes, lack of water, or seeming scarcity of life? Actually none of these factors technically define what a desert is. Rather, extreme aridity is the defining characteristic of a desert – meaning that a desert is a place where more water is lost through evaporation than is gained from precipitation. Typically, most of the world’s deserts receive less than 10 inches of rain annually, because high mountains or trade winds block the clouds from bringing rain to the area. The resulting hardships from this type of climate can make desert living a challenge but despite seeming evidence to the contrary, deserts are teeming with life – it just may not be as obvious as it is in a more temperate climate. Desert dwellers have evolved and developed interesting ways to survive their parched surroundings such as the ingenious water storage system of the Saguaro cactus, or the nocturnal behavior of many desert animals who rest during the heat of the day and emerge at night to hunt or forage for food, finding moisture on the dew of plants at sunrise. Still, it’s a difficult existence to say the least.
At this point you might ask yourself, given the hardships implicit in such a wilderness area, why would anyone intentionally choose to sojourn there? Well, the arid conditions that make desert areas more difficult for humans to thrive have facilitated the creation of a unique environment for spiritual growth and renewal. Blue skies, bright light, dry air, wide-open vistas, harsh landscapes, and isolation all help to make the desert an ideal place for reflection, contemplation, meditation, and prayer. Stars, sun, moon, wind, sand, and rocks tend to be one’s only companions in the desert, which is why I sought out the desert southwest of the US to spend much of a Sabbatical I took four years ago, knowing that the usual life distractions would be less intrusive there –- internet access, television signals, telephones, throngs of people -- making it easier for me to immerse myself more completely into my spiritual experience.
While today the desert areas of the Middle East are often associated with war, for most of the past 4,000 years these same deserts have provided inspiration to great spiritual leaders as the desert has played a key role in all three monotheistic religious. In the Jewish tradition we begin with Abraham, who journeyed through the Arabian Desert from what is now known as Iraq, on to Egypt around 2000 BCE, followed by Moses, who led the Hebrews out of Egypt through the Sinai Desert around 1250 BCE, in addition to receiving the Ten Commandments on the top of a desert mountain. King David himself ventured into the desert to hide from King Saul, and Prophets Elijah and Isaiah also spent valuable time in the desert. Within the Christian tradition there is John the Baptist, who lived in the Judean Desert and baptized people in the Jordan River during the first century of the Common Era, and Jesus’ figurative 40-day adventure in the Judean desert was followed by desert fathers and mothers who withdrew to sanctuary of the desert as well. And within Islam, Mohammed spent 30 days in the Arabian Desert where he received the revelation that became the Koran in the year 610.
Ever since Moses, Jesus, and Mohammad communed with God in the wilderness, people have sought out the purifying solitude of the desert. Seekers of spiritual fulfillment, whether prophets or just ordinary folk, found all they needed there: caves, freshwater springs and a location close enough to civilization to obtain provisions, yet far enough to ensure seclusion. Desert monasteries first began to pop-up in fourth-century Egypt, as Byzantine monks sought to return to simplicity and to emulate the prophets, John the Baptist and Jesus – and they have thrived all over the world ever since largely because the desert was considered to be a place where our spiritual forebears were able to discern the presentness and promises of God, something still sought today in the hundreds of active desert monasteries around the world.
Can't physically get to a desert to experience your own profound spiritual journey? Maybe you can create your own -- unplug the phone, turn off the computers and televisions, go sit outside someplace away from people, and listen to what the spirit might have to say to you. You just might be surprised -- and maybe even inspired.
Sophy
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Below you'll find some offerings from other WDC members about desert and wilderness spirituality. Some offer a positive experience, while others are less so. Please let the folks know if you read their piece by leaving a thoughtful comment or review.
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Now for a few comments about my last newsletter about spring renewal and resurrection:
From
Very well said. This gives me a lift to heighten my relationship with our Maker. It's summer here in the Philippines.
Glad you enjoyed it -- thanks for commenting.
     
From Elaine's Beary Limited*~ 
I enjoyed your newsletter again Well done.Spring has finally sprung and your newsletter brought it all into focus. Thank you for you time put into this for us here at WDC
You are most welcome! 
From Steve adding writing to ntbk.
I liked the featured ones and managed to read them all.
Thanks for another good one and will look for the next.
Copeantor out!
Glad you enjoyed the featured links -- hopefully you also let the authors know.
From Lazy Writer est 4/24/2008 
Hello All,
This was a lovely newsletter, I enjoyed it very much.
I am hoping that with the birth of Spring I myself will experience a rebirth of spirit!
Keep Writing
Lazy Writer
Trying to turn "Lazy" into "Busy"!
I hope your spirit has been reborn -- thanks for your comments.
From Katya the Poet 
Thank you, dear, for your spring thoughts and insights, and for putting my poem here. I have had a reader!
Hopefully you ended up with more than one reader! Glad to share your beautiful work with others.
Please keep your comments and suggestions coming, they are greatly appreciated! And on behalf of myself and our other regular Spiritual Newsletter Editor kittiara -- thanks for reading!
Until next time! Sophy
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Spiritual: May 06, 2009 Issue [#3038]
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