You have said it well. Very good essay and a solid fly-over of modern man's progression of thought and loss of any sense of the divine. - yet it lingers (as you have shown). A fav line for me was "If anything, the desert of modernity has starved us of what we truly desire, revealing how flimsy the things of this world really are, and now the spiritual hunger we were told we should no longer have is more ravenous than ever." I think this carries the whole sense of your message. Nicely done and keep writing.
Again, really appreciated your thoughts. I agree that the first thing is to recognize where you are *not* going to find spiritual connection and fulfillment. Maybe it gets bc easier as one gets older because you’ve had a chance to try things, and if one idd add honest, to admit what didn’t work.
I feel most drawn to working with my hands right now. I’m hand sewing scarves for my dance group right now. I could have done the same thing, or a good enough job, on a sewing machine. (I don’t own one but I could borrow.) But I just have this feeling that I need to do it exactly like I’m doing it: with time and attention to detail and a physical connection to my work. I want to take these indifferent scraps of cloth and give them a bounty of attention. I don’t really understand it myself but I’m going with it.
I love your way of thinking about things, Natasha. You have a view that is at once easy to follow yet deep enough to challenge your readers to investigate their own take without judgement. For Lent I will stay as close as I can to the source of all things by creating my art, music and short films. It is only there that I am able to join CS Lewis where he is: in another land in another time.
Excellent essay, I love this concept of our times as a desert. It felt like an Aha moment. I’m currently speed reading through all of the Bible before Lent, though I might contain it to just finishing the Old Testament before Lent, but anyway…it has me reading 6 hours a day at least, and the quiet focus of engaging with the word proves purgative. I haven’t actually read through all of the OT before, and seeing in stark view the more, frankly, punishing side of God is both deepening my appreciation for His mercy, but also increasing my desire for penitence. I see my own sins more clearly, false idol worship especially, and this process demands humility of me. As you write, “We long for so much more because there is so much more.” This rapid read through is confronting me with that, and also heightening my understanding of the spiritual consequence of turning away from God by feeding that longing with the distractions of the world. Something like this couldn’t be achieved just through podcasts or YouTube lectures, things that mostly just feed my intellect. I see even those can be distractions. So, in this spirit as I approach Lent, I intend to spend time studying scripture more deeply than I have before, and stop certain behaviors that serve as obstacles and distractions from cultivating a deeper relationship to God. Thank you for writing a thought provoking piece!
Molly, your comment made my day! Thank you for reading.
The concept of our times as desert really struck me too! If you are interested in reading more, Jason Baxter, in the book I cite in this essay, has a chapter on it. I've read it multiple times because there is so much there to contemplate.
6 hours a day, that is intense and magnificent! And ah yes, false idol worship. Our hearts are idol making machines, aren't they? This is why again and again throughout the Bible God is reminding his people that we are only to worship him. It's not because (as I used to think in my atheist days) that he was petty or whatever, but because if we get that wrong, we get everything wrong.
And you are on the same wavelength as me when it comes to things that feed the intellect. I think you and I have that voracious intellectual appetite in common, which is great! But for me I know I can lean on that instead of spending time quietly in prayer, thinking (falsely) oh I get more out of it. It's so hard to put away the noise and clutter of even worthy intellectual pursuits and spend time in stillness with God.
You have said it well. Very good essay and a solid fly-over of modern man's progression of thought and loss of any sense of the divine. - yet it lingers (as you have shown). A fav line for me was "If anything, the desert of modernity has starved us of what we truly desire, revealing how flimsy the things of this world really are, and now the spiritual hunger we were told we should no longer have is more ravenous than ever." I think this carries the whole sense of your message. Nicely done and keep writing.
Hi Henry, thanks for reading and commenting. I'm glad this essay resonated with you.
Again, really appreciated your thoughts. I agree that the first thing is to recognize where you are *not* going to find spiritual connection and fulfillment. Maybe it gets bc easier as one gets older because you’ve had a chance to try things, and if one idd add honest, to admit what didn’t work.
I feel most drawn to working with my hands right now. I’m hand sewing scarves for my dance group right now. I could have done the same thing, or a good enough job, on a sewing machine. (I don’t own one but I could borrow.) But I just have this feeling that I need to do it exactly like I’m doing it: with time and attention to detail and a physical connection to my work. I want to take these indifferent scraps of cloth and give them a bounty of attention. I don’t really understand it myself but I’m going with it.
I love your way of thinking about things, Natasha. You have a view that is at once easy to follow yet deep enough to challenge your readers to investigate their own take without judgement. For Lent I will stay as close as I can to the source of all things by creating my art, music and short films. It is only there that I am able to join CS Lewis where he is: in another land in another time.
Hi Erik, thanks for reading and commenting! I really appreciate it. I like hearing your plans for Lent, sounds ripe with potential.
Excellent essay, I love this concept of our times as a desert. It felt like an Aha moment. I’m currently speed reading through all of the Bible before Lent, though I might contain it to just finishing the Old Testament before Lent, but anyway…it has me reading 6 hours a day at least, and the quiet focus of engaging with the word proves purgative. I haven’t actually read through all of the OT before, and seeing in stark view the more, frankly, punishing side of God is both deepening my appreciation for His mercy, but also increasing my desire for penitence. I see my own sins more clearly, false idol worship especially, and this process demands humility of me. As you write, “We long for so much more because there is so much more.” This rapid read through is confronting me with that, and also heightening my understanding of the spiritual consequence of turning away from God by feeding that longing with the distractions of the world. Something like this couldn’t be achieved just through podcasts or YouTube lectures, things that mostly just feed my intellect. I see even those can be distractions. So, in this spirit as I approach Lent, I intend to spend time studying scripture more deeply than I have before, and stop certain behaviors that serve as obstacles and distractions from cultivating a deeper relationship to God. Thank you for writing a thought provoking piece!
Molly, your comment made my day! Thank you for reading.
The concept of our times as desert really struck me too! If you are interested in reading more, Jason Baxter, in the book I cite in this essay, has a chapter on it. I've read it multiple times because there is so much there to contemplate.
6 hours a day, that is intense and magnificent! And ah yes, false idol worship. Our hearts are idol making machines, aren't they? This is why again and again throughout the Bible God is reminding his people that we are only to worship him. It's not because (as I used to think in my atheist days) that he was petty or whatever, but because if we get that wrong, we get everything wrong.
And you are on the same wavelength as me when it comes to things that feed the intellect. I think you and I have that voracious intellectual appetite in common, which is great! But for me I know I can lean on that instead of spending time quietly in prayer, thinking (falsely) oh I get more out of it. It's so hard to put away the noise and clutter of even worthy intellectual pursuits and spend time in stillness with God.
May your Lent be meaningful.