It`s late Sunday evening. I`ve spent the weekend writing for two upcoming presentations. Meanwhile, I`ve had no time to write for this blog. I`m struggling to find an inspiration. The image of the desert keeps coming into my mind. How wonderfully Lenten!
In the midst of the present busyness I yearn for the desert. I don`t need or want the harshness of 40 days of temptation or physical hardship. I just want a wee trip into solitude, away from mind`s clutter and undone tasks…a time to be still, and not be afraid of the stillness.
My mind is empty of words. Perhaps this is the desert I`m seeking…
catholic dialogue 
Peace be with you, Isabella as you journey through your desert. BE STILL, if only for a few moments, and know the love and compassion of your God. May you be blessed as you prepare for the Woman’s Summit.
I think both “lent” and the “desert” are times and places to ask ourselves “am I becoming the true, authentic person God created?”
Thomas Merton put it this way: “The (spiritual) journey is to let go of being somebody else”. It is the letting go of mimicking someone else’s life and to own your own life with its gifts and limitations. Becoming who you are requires affirming, and not minimizing your own gifts and talents. Healing begins when we can celebrate our gifts and the gifts of others, and to be with the realities of our lives. God waste nothing, every part of our lives is integrated.
However, the whole culture is about comparing, contrasting and owning.
Scripture tells us we are “called by name”; there is this unique call of each person. Jesus talks about “entering by the narrow gate” he is talking about living your life. Are you entering the narrow gate that is your destiny or are you trying to enter by the collective gate that you may have wondered into? Are you aware of pain not because you are moving forward but because you are trying to enter through a gate that is too small, the collective gate, or squeezing into the family’s gate, are you entering through a religion gate?
Is the gate the narrow gate that is really your own? This is not about fixing yourself, it is about an invitation to grace, it is about discerning noticing, paying attention, it is about the unique call of each person, it is about discerning is it time for me to let all of this go, and become my authentic self, and to be the way I need to be in the world?
Enjoy your desert experience Isabella, for great things blossom in the desert.
You are in my prayers as you prepare for the Woman’s Summit.
Ah, kindred souls who understand the need for the desert time. Thank you to all for your inspiration and prayers!