There are so many of us who go through ‘desert experiences’, where we feel dry and hard, when spiritual life doesn’t feel quite real, where we are struggling with grief or loss of illness. It can be a scarey time, particularly for those of us in ministry, who know that somehow we have to continue to nourish people out of our own emptiness and dryness. What happened to that wonderful experience of being called by God, a call that was deep and real and took us out into new, exciting territory? How could God have called us, then seemingly left us in the desert? This poem is for you.
IN THE DESERT
Your deepest pull at my core
Came visceral, undeniable,
Setting my feet outside the door
Going I knew not where.
In a pitiless and waterless land
my scabby lips, with eyes half-blind
I turn and turn with outstretched hands
Reaching for mirages of the mind.
Camel caravans pass me by
Water stored in humps of faith
Oh teach me this, until I see
your face.
(Gill Kimber)
CofE Network of Distinctive Deacons 