The Desert

The Desert

It is necessary to enter the desert and remain there a while in order to receive the grace of God. It is in the desert that we empty ourselves, that we chase away all that is not God, that we completely empty out the little house of our souls so that God alone may fill it. . . . It is indispensable. . . . It is a time of grace.

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We must go through the desert and dwell there to receive the grace of God. It is while there that one expels from oneself everything that is not divine. The soul needs this silence, this recollection, this time to forget the created universe. It is during it that God establishes His kingdom in the soul and shapes its inner spirit, the spirit of intimate life with God, the soul's converse with God in faith, hope, and charity.

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Silence, recollection, and withdrawal from the world are the means God uses to form the inner spirit and establish His reign within us. . . . Later, the soul will bear fruit to the same extent that it has been inwardly formed. If the inner life is non-existent, there will be no fruit despite all the zeal, good intentions, and work. It wants to impart holiness to others but cannot, not having it to give.

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I love this desert; it is so good and wholesome to be alone, face to face with eternal things -- truth washes over you like a flood. I find it hard to have to go on with my travels and leave this solitude and silence; but the will of the Beloved, whatever it may be, must be not only preferred but loved, cherished, and blessed without measure.

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It was at the moment when Jacob was on the road, poor, alone, when he sank naked to the ground in the desert to rest after a long journey on foot, it was at the moment when he was in the painful situation of an isolated traveler in the middle of a long voyage in a strange and savage country, without shelter, that was the moment when he found, in his sad condition, that God had heaped incomparable favors upon him.

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In solitude, one is never alone. The spirit was not made for noise, but for taking things in. Life is a preparation for heaven, not only through deserving work, but by the peace and communion with God.