"To make the desert blossom like the rose".
That's what the pioneers accomplished in the deserts of Utah. Modern-day Israel also made its deserts blossom.
Deserts holds special significance in our lives. There is something purifying about a desert. It's barren parched ground symbolizes a clean slate, a new start. Some will see obstacles when shown a desert. Others will see only opportunity.
When we think of deserts the story of Moses traveling forty days through the desert comes to mind, or the story of the Israelites traveling forty years through the desert before entering the promised land. For forty years the desert purged a generation of unbelievers. How can we forget the story of Jesus fasting forty days in the desert. What transforming empowerment took place there?
Then, in the Book of Mormon, the very first account is of Lehi and his family leaving all their riches behind in Jerusalem as it was about to be destroyed, and traveling through the desert.
The deserts of our life will come and when they come we will abandoned and terrified. In the quietness of the desert we can hear God's whisper resonate more loudly. The voices clamoring for our attention can no longer be heard.
A desert is a sacred place where inner transformation takes place beyond the sight of others. When we let God plant seeds in our desert we can begin to truly blossom, in ways we never imagined.
This view of the parched desert, is not shared by the pundits of New Age philosophies. Their paradigm does not entertain the idea of entering deserts. Quite the contrary. Their ideal expression of transformation is to bypass all deserts, at all costs and visualize only abundance.
Herein lies in stark contrast the difference between God's ways and the World's ways. Just like Satan who tempted Jesus with power and dominion, so the world promises us today power and dominion without inner transformation. World of powerful, dominating egotists is hardly the ideal tableau we should be envisioning.
Yet, God in his infinite wisdom, will make us blossom as the rose after we have been purged. This produces a different kind of world filled with people who are far more concerned about the well-being of others than their own, because they have known privations.
The fork in the road ahead will take you to two destinations: the desert and the fertile valley. Which will you chose?
But, then there is also another choice you can make. There are various kinds of deserts from hot and dry, to cold, semi-arid and coastal. My preference is always "coastal".
That's what the pioneers accomplished in the deserts of Utah. Modern-day Israel also made its deserts blossom.
Deserts holds special significance in our lives. There is something purifying about a desert. It's barren parched ground symbolizes a clean slate, a new start. Some will see obstacles when shown a desert. Others will see only opportunity.
When we think of deserts the story of Moses traveling forty days through the desert comes to mind, or the story of the Israelites traveling forty years through the desert before entering the promised land. For forty years the desert purged a generation of unbelievers. How can we forget the story of Jesus fasting forty days in the desert. What transforming empowerment took place there?
Then, in the Book of Mormon, the very first account is of Lehi and his family leaving all their riches behind in Jerusalem as it was about to be destroyed, and traveling through the desert.
The deserts of our life will come and when they come we will abandoned and terrified. In the quietness of the desert we can hear God's whisper resonate more loudly. The voices clamoring for our attention can no longer be heard.
A desert is a sacred place where inner transformation takes place beyond the sight of others. When we let God plant seeds in our desert we can begin to truly blossom, in ways we never imagined.
This view of the parched desert, is not shared by the pundits of New Age philosophies. Their paradigm does not entertain the idea of entering deserts. Quite the contrary. Their ideal expression of transformation is to bypass all deserts, at all costs and visualize only abundance.
Herein lies in stark contrast the difference between God's ways and the World's ways. Just like Satan who tempted Jesus with power and dominion, so the world promises us today power and dominion without inner transformation. World of powerful, dominating egotists is hardly the ideal tableau we should be envisioning.
Yet, God in his infinite wisdom, will make us blossom as the rose after we have been purged. This produces a different kind of world filled with people who are far more concerned about the well-being of others than their own, because they have known privations.
The fork in the road ahead will take you to two destinations: the desert and the fertile valley. Which will you chose?
But, then there is also another choice you can make. There are various kinds of deserts from hot and dry, to cold, semi-arid and coastal. My preference is always "coastal".
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