Musings on a journey

I was driving from Alice Springs to Tennant Creek. I had been immersed in the Central Australian Parish communities for two weeks. It was an enriching experience in many ways!

As I drove, I felt a sense of sadness as I moved up north. The surrounding bushland is rugged and beautiful stretching out in all directions. There is a certain starkness in the wilderness of the heart of our continent country.

I was missing the connections with so many people.

In the scriptures, the wilderness is often a place of meeting with God.

The Jewish people spent 40 years moving in the wilderness. The prophets many times told the people that they needed to get back to the wilderness to make a fresh start.

Jesus spent 40 days in the wilderness before he started his Mission.

The deserts of Egypt and other parts of the Middle East became populated with monks and nuns we call the desert mothers and fathers. They have a lot of spiritual treasures inspiring so many over hundreds of years.

Each one of the people I met had their own story. So many carry heavy burdens.

As I drove, I felt a real need to commend them all to Jesus.

I felt drawn to prayer. I felt drawn to Jesus, to connect with Him.

This connection with Jesus enables us to love more freely and more deeply with decreasing expectations for ourselves.

He keeps purifying us from the ego, self-interest. He is the great liberator.

Wherever we are we are called to be sacraments of love.