{"id":221461,"date":"2016-03-08T07:30:19","date_gmt":"2016-03-08T13:30:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/?p=221461"},"modified":"2019-01-17T19:39:45","modified_gmt":"2019-01-18T01:39:45","slug":"a-message-in-the-desert","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2016\/03\/a-message-in-the-desert\/","title":{"rendered":"A Message in the Desert"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"desert\"

painting by Mark Hudgins<\/p><\/div>\n

When your heart says to God, “you have cut off my life<\/em><\/p>\n

like a weaver severs the last thread, “<\/em><\/p>\n

when you’re alone in the desert on a cold night<\/p>\n

with no fire,<\/p>\n

and you’ve never known such emptiness<\/p>\n

or alienation<\/p>\n

and you say in your alarm,\u00a0“no man can can be\u00a0trusted!”<\/em><\/p>\n

When your life is born away from you<\/p>\n

like a tent struck down<\/p>\n

and you feel you have nothing left to give,<\/p>\n

that you are broken to the core<\/p>\n

and you cannot imagine your restoration,<\/p>\n

when even the sunrise seems cold and heartless<\/p>\n

and you think, ” there is no love in my heart at all!”<\/p>\n

know that all you ever had came from God.<\/p>\n

Don’t be afraid anymore.<\/p>\n

Say to yourself in the cave of your heart,<\/p>\n

“this is the time for my soul.”<\/p>\n

God is closer than ever before.<\/p>\n

Your restoration is in the depths of his will<\/p>\n

and in time to come,<\/p>\n

the love in your heart will be renewed<\/p>\n

and be all his.<\/p>\n

You have nothing to give, so wait to receive<\/p>\n

in his time.<\/p>\n

Be patient in suffering.<\/em><\/p>\n

Persevere in prayer.<\/em><\/p>\n

Trust in not knowing<\/p>\n

even who you are anymore,<\/p>\n

except that you are his.<\/p>\n

Be little, be weak, sit quietly in the shadow of death<\/em><\/p>\n

and say to your empty heart, “this is the time for my soul.”<\/p>\n

Allow this darkness of unknowing.<\/p>\n

“Let it be done to me according to thy word,”<\/em> she said,<\/p>\n

even at the cross,<\/p>\n

and on that desolate Holy Saturday<\/p>\n

when she sat in darkness deeper than any she had ever known could be.<\/p>\n

She suffered unspeakably.<\/p>\n

Still she trusted, remaining present in the very bleakness of her heart.<\/p>\n

So you, her child, alone in your desert,<\/p>\n

you desolate of heart,<\/p>\n

when you say to yourself, “my one companion is darkness, “<\/em><\/p>\n

say, “This is the time for my soul.”<\/p>\n

A time of grace.<\/p>\n

Your light will come<\/em><\/p>\n

As God defines it.<\/p>\n

And that joy no one shall take from you.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"desert\"

painting by Mark Hudgins<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When your heart says to God, “you have cut off my life like a weaver severs the last thread, “ when you’re alone in the desert on a cold night with no fire, and you’ve never known such emptiness or alienation and you say in your alarm,\u00a0“no man can can be\u00a0trusted!” When your life is… [Read More]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":155,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_wpcom_ai_launchpad_first_post":false,"_jetpack_hide_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_featured_image_duplicate_dismissed":0,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"{title}\n\n{excerpt}\n\n{url}","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[90],"tags":[1159,2408,2248,1160,2132,591,1528,74,1337],"class_list":["post-221461","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-faith-blog","tag-dark-night","tag-darkness","tag-desert","tag-dryness","tag-grief","tag-lent","tag-loss","tag-prayer","tag-sorrow","entry","has-post-thumbnail"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t