Spirituality in the dry desert of New Mexico,

I've been back a while from a photography conference I attended at Ghost Ranch north of Sante Fe, New Mexico. It was spiritually enriching as I recognized God's presence and spirit alive and touching my soul. This is the first of two reflections that come out of my time there.

In our imagination we might see the desert as dry and barren with no life and very little to inspire. The truth is, there's no doubt that it is dry, but I found it to be anything but barren; I experienced life; I found inspiration. In fact, I experienced the desert around Ghost Ranch to be a beautiful place where I experienced God everywhere I went. Here are some of the examples of what I mean.

There are cactus everywhere in the desert. That's not untoward given that they need little water to survive. They are prickly, and in many ways not all that attractive to look at. And yet they produce some beautiful flowers. Pink, yellow and white buds form on the cactus plant; they open up to show such a display beauty and splendour.

One day I walked along one of the riverbed which ran through the property. Last year, it was flooded with water rising high along the bank. This year, it was dry and parched. And yet there was a beauty in the cracked clay bottom. And in places there was life growing too. Somewhere deep in the ground there was a water source that brought forth life.

Walking along the river bed there were animal foot prints. During the dark hours of the night, racoons, wolves and possibly other creatures walked along this same path.

Finally, we came to a point along our walk where there was a spring of water that moved downstream. In the midst of all that was dry and parched was life giving water that had made its way to the surface.

These are some of the ways I encountered God in the desert of New Mexico. God was present; God was visible.

There's a lesson there too for our lives when we encounters moments and experiences of the desert that come upon us in one form or another. We may feel like life is dry, desolate and barren; that in effect there is no life left in us. The reasons for that are many. Yet, especially in hindsight, we often realize that what we were going through wasn't totally dried up, desolate and barren. In fact, we realize that God was very present as a spiritual resource that gave us strength, peace, hope and comfort when we needed it most. That's the life we can and do encounter in our experiences of the desert.

In my next post I'll explore God's painting as I experienced it in the desert.