Anyone who is serious about their prayer life will come to the desert; “dry periods” when it feels as if God is very distant and not listening to us at all. This silence of God can be very disconcerting when we are experiencing it, but it can also be a time of great spiritual growth.
The greatest danger when we are in a spiritual desert is that we will become overwhelmed by its temptations. The struggle with temptations -- just like Christ was tempted in the desert -- threatens to deform or defeat us. However, there is a great grace in being in the desert; “it is the place of complete and utter dependence upon God and, therefore, of profound closeness to God” (Thurston, Hidden in God: Discovering the Desert Vision of Charles de Foucauld, p. 67).
Blessed Charles wrote about the desert to some of his Trappist brothers, “To receive the grace of God … you must go to a desert place and stay a while. There you can be emptied and unburdened of everything that does not pertain to God. There the house of our soul is swept clean to make room for God alone to dwell …. We need this silence, this absence of every creature, so that God can build his hermitage within us.”
After studying the writings of Bless Charles de Foucauld, Bonnie Thurston identified four aspects of desert spirituality.
First, we have to be willing to stay a while. A quick “fly-by” is not enough to sweep the soul clean. In order to receive the benefits and see the beauty of the desert, we need to take up residence there, often for an undisclosed period of time. I know, this seems impossible for most of us, but is it really? Yes, we all live busy lives, but maybe that it part of the problem. We need silence in our lives; not just the absence of noise, but the remaining in the presence of God. Interestingly, the book I am currently reading, by Cardinal Robert Sarah, is called The Power of Silence. Basically we all need to make deliberate time for God in silence. I have now planned to make a “desert day” once a month where I will “unplug” -- no phone, no iPad, just my Bible, breviary, and a notebook, so I can be with God. I also try to be silent for at least 30 minutes a day, but often God keeps me there longer.
Second, Blessed Charles makes it clear that just as Jesus “emptied himself” in taking on our humanity, we too need to empty ourselves; of our expectations, desires, plans, etc. In doing so we are relieved of the yoke, the burden that Jesus talks about (see Matthew 11:30).
This remaining and emptying of ourselves leads to the third aspect of desert spirituality; making room for God. While we may not be called to become hermits, God wants to be a hermit in our hearts, in our souls.
Finally, while nature may abhor a vacuum, the soul needs one. At first this is very disconcerting, and this is where the Devil hits us the most. It is where we confront ourselves, our sins, and all that keeps us from God.
Blessed Charles: “I am in a strange state. Everything seems to be empty, empty, hollow, immeasurably insignificant, except only being at our Lord’s feet and gazing on him -- but when I am at his feet I am dry, arid, with neither words nor thoughts -- and frequently, alas, in the end I fall asleep.”
It is important to accept that the desert is a normal part of the spiritual life, we should not be ashamed of being there. In fact, it is often a sign of spiritual progress. Blessed Charles writes, “In our prayers, let us not hide our suffering from God … lest us not be afraid to complain about them. On the contrary, let us reveal them, simply, with an open heart … let us reveal them as would a loving heart that has an overwhelming need to confide everything it feels to the object of its passionate love … let us call upon God to help us.”