Guided Meditation #3: Wilderness Time
“What God arranges for us to experience at each moment is the best
and holiest thing that could happen to us.”
~Jean Pierre de Caussade (Abandonment to Divine Providence)
At times I wonder if my occasional spiritual deserts and soul dryness won’t hinder my ability to be fully present with others, with myself, or with God. But when this happens I call to mind the truth of God’s presence. The Divine work eternally continues regardless of my blindness, my numbness, my deafness, or my distractions. Showing up each day in a posture of waiting receptivity during my desert times, is an act of faith, a proclamation that with or without my understanding or any emotional awareness the Spirit moves. Even in what I perceive as dry spells, I remain immersed, enveloped, buried deep within the love of God.
There is no need to try to change how or when God may reveal himself to me or reveal myself to me. I simply trust the timing and the appearance of the Divine as it unfolds in me.
As I sit and wait in this wilderness time, what is my great fear or struggle with being here? How do I grieve the loss of emotion or aliveness in sensing God’s nearness?
I take time to prepare my heart and mind each day to receive all evidence of the Spirit simply at rest within me, whether I perceive it or not.
I accept the silence of God as holy invitation to partner in the silence as well. I choose an image, color, sound, or texture to represent this desert season. I take time to experience that symbol and give voice to that longing in prayer, in my journal, through movement, or any other means to silently wait before God.
As I hold the image, sound, or textured symbol, how does it become my prayer offering?
I notice my breathing, remembering the breath of God in me. Divine presence is the air I breathe. Nothing can be closer than my breath, the rise and fall rhythm of a God-breathed life. I spend a few minutes attuned to my breathing, recognizing it as enough grace and gift for this day.
Returning to the image at the top of this meditation. What draws my attention, speaks to my spirit? What grace do I ask of God to see me through this wilderness time? I end my time in gratitude.
