Living in the southwest desert, I thrill to the moonlight of bold nights, and to the warmth of winter days and the welcome chill of the dark breezy nights.
Of course I always wanted to live on the Judean desert, not necessarily this desert I am on.
My desert is second-best, having no Masada or En Gedi.
Still and all, we have our attractions: polygamy, Mormon temples, prophets in the desert.
Even undocumented wanderers lost in the desert, trying to make it to the land of opportunity. Kids even. As near as I can tell, in this desert of people who believe in God, these wanderers are basically unwelcome.
It is so easy to forget what God said about the stranger at our gate, or the strangers within "our" lands.
"Our" lands.
It all belongs to God, and I think one big reason I love the desert is because mankind basically rejects the desert, except as a refuge, and God shines through much better in the desert.
Except maybe not for the undocumented wanderers.
There is so much living to do and although I often share on this blog what I consider the good things about aging, here is one of the sad things: we discover when we are old that it is true that we only have one life to live!
Living as fast and deep and long as we can, we barely scratch the surface before it is time to move on.
Thank goodness for our ability to live vicariously through other people's lives and stories and blogs!
Presently I am living vicariously by reading again about Luther, Martin Luther, the great German who foreshadowed the internet by translating the Bible for "the people".
Information flowing to "the little people" is transforming!
Luther's words on grace during the tumultuous time in Christian history, known now as "the Reformation" , still live on, thanks be to God.
"The merit of Christ is not a treasure of indulgences, which exempts from well-doing; but a treasure of grace, which gives life.
The merit of Christ is applied to believers without indulgences, without keys, by the Holy Spirit only............"
Thanks for breezing through "my" desert,
Riverwatch
PS I am beginning to believe their is a huge difference in believing in God....and believing God.
