A Gallimaufry of Thought

I started this post the other day thinking about several things all at the same time:
Elijahs cave:
– This sent me looking for the meaning of Elijah’s name, “My God is YHWH”.
– The storm both external and internal
– the cave as a place of both safety and to hide
– God is in control

St John of the Cross:
– the Spiritual Direction Formation weekend on Carmelite Spirituality
– so much good fruit
– the ongoing realization that the deeper we go the more our prayer is the same: intimacy, trust and longing

The desert is the deepest place of intimacy
– it is not a place of punishment
– it is revealing
– we are never alone in the desert

Sometime ago my spiritual director asked me to ask God the source of desolation. There have been hints and places that have come up in prayer. There is something stirring that I need to bring up next time. The more I pray the more there is a sense that it isn’t one specific event, rather a number of things. And there is a need to recall the sweet consolations as reminders of God’s ever presence. Hence Elijah’s cave and the moment when God held me by the arms and swung me around whilst I giggled and the weekend where we explored Carmelite Spirituality and had the prayer realization and oh so many sweet moments.

And here is the greater realization: that there is a deeper need to grow in maturity. Ouch. And YAY. This understanding is a gift.

It is Holy Week – this is the week we get to face how loved we are. The other day someone shared one of Pope Leo XIV’s talk from a General Audience on 13 Aug 2025. Reading this before the Palm Sunday Gospel reading enlightens the mind and heart to see how much God loves us. God loves us through death into life.

May this Holy Week and Easter bring you to greater Life in Christ,

Teri