Many people do not seem to understand my fascination & study of the Desert Mothers & Fathers. Perhaps the following by Laura Swan may help:
For many of us, the desert is the season often called "midlife." This is the time in our life when a cacophony of feelings and unknown forces seem to converge on us. We begin to experience loneliness and depression, even in the midst of loving family and friends. Questions emerge around our choices and values. Struggles appear endless, hope seems lost, and unfulfilled dreams stare us in the face. We seem to be continually birthing questions with stillborn answers.
We become increasingly aware of grief in our life: sometimes quietly present, at other times nearly overwhelming. We grieve broken relationships, changes in our health, unwanted transitions, and lost opportunities. The image of God that we've grown up with -- and were hardly aware of -- no longer work. Old understandings of our faith tradition seem stale and irrelevant. Funerals become the time of grieving for far more than the recently deceased. The ammas exhort us to sit in this desert and let it teach us. They understood that this painful stripping must be embraced in order for healing and mature joy to emerge.
(continued later)
+ pax