I feel acutely my desert, but it is never without expectatioon. the scriptures, services and our own personal experience abouds with thie dogma that our desert can bear many children.

I will add the passage to the article, somewhat out of the spirit of our “nota bene” artiucles (meant to be short), but this is too good to leave out.

“The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose.

It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing: the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon, they shall see the glory of the LORD, and the excellency of our God.

Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees.

Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompence; he will come and save you.

Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.

Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert.

And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water: in the habitation of dragons, where each lay, shall be grass with reeds and rushes.

And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those: the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein.

No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon, it shall not be found there; but the redeemed shall walk there:

And the ransomed of the LORD shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.”

Christ is born!

We all seek salvation. But we so often find ourselves in a desert – helpless, fruitless state of soul. Everything falls out of our hands. We think we are good for nothing…and this state can be very useful & can give us many valuable notions & ideas – if we just make an effort and cast a glance at our Saviour. He is able to raise us from this desert of sorrows & sins, and plant roses in the dry garden of our souls – even if no one else believes it can be. As it is hardly possible to explain in winter to a person, who never saw a spring, that the dead & ugly trees will turn green, and there will be many picturesque flowers around…

With God’s help we can scratch a desert & produce a garden!

But if we sit doing nothing, drowned in our despair & disbelief, we’ll die in that desert of our empty heart.

“A desert is a place without expectation”.
(Nadine Gordimer)

We have expectation. And more – we have God’s promise. All that we should do – no persistently move forward, following our Christ.