We do not have to journey to the literal desert to encounter its power. Each of us has desert encounters—experiences that strip away all our comforts and assurances and leave us to face ourselves directly. When illness, death, or loss of any significance visits us, we are thrust into the landscape of the desert. Each of us can benefit from the wisdom of the desert fathers and mothers, who speak to us across time about the meaning and grace possible there. The symbolic, yet very human, dimension of life in the desert is common to us all.
