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In June of 2001, I went to the Judean desert in Israel for 40 days. The most obvious reason for going into the desert for 40 days was because Jesus did and my connection to Jesus had become very strong during the past 5 years while writing A Place at the Table. And like Jesus, when God says "you are my son whom I love," the love shoots up from within your soul and affects everything you do. I went into the desert because I felt that love and I heard those words and now, I longed to relax into them, to allow them to overcome and overtake me; to be felt all the way down into the grounded feet of the soul. Just as an engaged couple's next step is marriage, my going to the desert was the next step in my relationship with God. And now this relationship demanded a consummation; a confrontation of both love and anger that could not be avoided any longer---and I didn't want any interruptions: no television, no friends, no lovers. . . nothing that had to be done other than eat, sleep, go to the toilet and relate to God.
And yet, there was a simpler, truer and deeper reason for my going into the desert: I was called into the desert and my job was to get myself there with as few expectations as possible, and then allow the desert, God, the Spirit---to show me why I had come.
Click on an image below to enlarge it. |
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| I am being dropped off in the Judean desert. At this point I am excited and have no idea that . . . |
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. . . in 3 days I will pass out in the desert and almost die. |
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This is the cave where I stayed for 40 days. It is at the top of a 3-tiered dry waterfall. |
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| I could see the Dead Sea from my cave. |
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The desert is beautiful at sundown. |
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On the 26th day, six guys showed up. They were surprised to find me in the middle of nowhere. |
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| For 26 days, I had been going past the edge of myself. So when they suggested I go over the edge of the cliff with them, I did. |
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After awhile, my back got accustomed to lying on rocks. |
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On the 41st day, I am a totally different person. I died in the desert many times, and now I am alive in ways I never imagined. |
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