"There are spirits in the Material World"

"The Spirit of God moves in the waters of repentance, which though troubled, are yet pure." (Thomas Watson, puritan)

Is there anyone beyond this dark screen? Are these words lost in the language of Babel? These are questions which haunt me. What will become of us (or is it only 'me'), in light of this new universe? They say it has made the world smaller.Yet has it not also made the universe bigger. This is not the garden of eden. This is a wilderness in which you can get lost. I don't suppose Adam and Eve ever got lost in the garden. It is not until we go east of eden that we lose our equilibrium, one's sense of direction. Did they say, "Let's always keep eden over our left shoulder." How long was it before they were lost in a myriad of valleys with no apparent road home.

To speak plainly, is the wilderness of the blogosphere a safe place for the Church? Or should this be our next crusade, the latest realm to conquer? With the advent of software, it begs the question of a need for a rabbi. Or is there a new rabbi in town, cloaked in the darkness of this black screen. Perhaps I am insecure if I fear this modern mentor. Maybe it is a legitimate concern, as a reluctant professional whose life is one with the word and the work.

Mine of course is the life of the shepherd. Therefore I stumble through an uncharted desert, (or should I say at least for myself the maps I have to read of this desert are practically incomprehendable). For my sheep dwell here, and here I must be also. I know there are spirits in the material world. But is there a "Ghost in the machine?" Without him I fear we will all perish. Our sense of community will be lost. We need him, as a cloud by day and a fire by night to guide us. Without him these are mere words, and "what are words for when no one listens anymore?" May there be a Ghost in this machine to apply these words in the hearts of those who are gaining the world but losing their souls.

And A River Runs Through It - GOD

"Abbot Moses.....took with him a very old basket full of holes, filled it with sand, and carried it behind him. The elders came out to meet him, and said: "What is this, Father?" The elder replied: "My sins are running out behind me, and I do not see them, and today I come to judge the sins of another!" (Sayings of the Desert Fathers)

The desert can make you delirious, not that you would know it. We are often lost and rarely admit it in this ocean of sand. I have found the desert to be utterly impartial, without remorse. How many has it claimed? Abandoned possessions and crooked markers line this Oregon, Santa Fe trail; whatever you prefer to call it. Recently in my own desert wanderings I realized how desparately thirsty I was, dustdevils swirled around me, forerunners of a sandstorm that would engulf me. Hunkered over by the battering wind, eyes red with sand swept tears I was reminded that desert trials fall upon the just and the unjust. "Flash floods of tears, torrents of them, flow down exposing long forgotten strata of life, a badlands beauty. The same sun that decorates each day from arroyos and mesas also shows every old scar and cut of lament. Weeping washed the wounds clean and leaves them to heal, which always takes an age or two" (Ann Dillard).

When Christ suffered in his agony, he hoarsely whispered, "I thirst." Suffering is not something which any of us are fond of but it is inevitable for those of "the way." Pain and tragedy have become a part of my desert. A word spoken can not be easily retrieved (and that is putting it lightly). Yet I have determined that this is a desert journey worth taking. Relentlessness is imperative. And just when I thought my cup had run dry, it came to me: there is a desert and a river runs through it- God. I have drunk and I am no longer dry. Sola Scriptura WHB

"To Know What Was In Your Heart" - God

"Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world." (W. B. Yeats, The Second Coming)

I believe it was C. S. Lewis who said, "We are far too easily pleased." A compelling thought in its own right and yet I find myself thrust in a different direction today. On the opposite spectrum of all this is the idea that one is never satisfied. It is never enough or it is not good enough, these are the mantras of our day. The desert fathers seemed to know none of this. They found contentment in an ocean of contemplation, or so it seems. How ironic in light of the desert which we know or for that matter the desert of Israel's wilderness journey.

"He gave you manna to eat" (Deut. 8.3). Have we not all tasted of the monotony of manna? How we come to hate it and long for something more only to find out that 'more' is not exactly what you were wandering for. That's the problem with desert journeys, you encounter things you never dreamed of. Too often we think we own the desert and we are at its center. A center which we cannot hold together. Like grasping sand, you always end up with less than what you anticipated. I have come to the conclusion that no one owns the desert (with the exception of God of course). Ours is to learn to live there, no... that is a subtle sin. Ours is to learn that "man cannot live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God" (Deut. 8.3). Ours is to learn to depend upon him in the desert, he must become our centre. WHB Sola Gracia

"In The Beginning" - Community

"No one should be so contemplative that in his contemplation he does not think of his neighbor's needs; no one so active that he does not seek the contemplation of God." (Augustine, The City of God)

For me this is the beginning. A side trail if you will of my own desert journey. A place where I will explore the Incomprehendable were it not for the Divine Voice. I speak in reference to this 'blogging thing.' I have my students journal on their readings in Scripture, something which creates its own confused looks. "What' that?" some of them say. Yet I perceive if I said they had to 'blog,' they would just say, 'ok'. Of course it is imperative that I practice what I preach. So, this is an academic and hopefully a spiritual exercise. Therefore I move my own contemplations of the Holy One into the public square. I think Augustine would be proud, a mystic who understood that contemplation should evoke change ultimately to be demonstrated in community. In regards to the title of this site (I almost said 'piece'), it is an expression of where I think God is. Of course I speak metaphorically. I realize for some of you this is a foregone conclusion. But for those who were not sure, now you know. In fact get used to the metaphor and never forget that there is always something real and tangable behind it. In case you're wondering, "Why the desert?" Well for me it is obvious. God and the desert seem never far apart. God's prophets and people were always going in or coming out of the desert. God is in the desert, Moses, Elijah, David, John the Baptist, Paul and of course the Lord Jesus all found, or were fed, or did battle for, or ministered before God in the desert. I think God loves the desert and he wants us to love it too. Because it is when we are in the desert that we appreciate him most. Sola Fide, WHB