The wilderness and the mercy of Christ
Truly, Lord, you are become our refuge. I have fled to you, teach me your will and make me do it. You have had compassion on the people that followed you into the wilderness. You have had pity and have provided food, les they faint by the way. I have begun to follow you, my leader, into the wilderness. I have vowed and am determined to keep the judgments of your righteousness. By your grace I will not forsake you. I will not withdraw myself from you until either I come to the goal whither you have begun to bring me, or I fall in my tracks as you yourself fell, if it is possible to fall following you. For I know that, even if the body is weak and even if the spirit sometimes wearies, I shall not fail if I do not forsake you, but shall make progress by means of my infirmities, provided you do not forsake me by depriving me of patience. Have mercy on me, Lord. Look on my low estate and poverty. Help me and carry me, weak and feeble as I am in both mind and body. Inspire those you love you, your servants and your sons, to help me and carry me.
William of St. Thierry, Meditation 13:7 in On Contemplating God-Prayer-Meditations. Penelope Lawson, CSMV, trans. Kalamazoo, MI: Cistercian Publications, 1970.
This brief reflection from a great Cistercian mystic spoke to me about the journey of the children of Israel in the wilderness. Surely, so long as we do not deny the literal sense of the journey of God’s People out of slavery into freedom, these stories also speak to the spiritual journey of every human being. Here, William notes his great weakness and poverty in mind, body, and spirit as he attempts to follow the Lord. And he cries out to God for help. He places his full confidence in the mercy of Christ, by whose grace he will persevere. He also asks God to inspire his fellow servants to help him and carry him. So much of the Christian life has to do with accepting the fact that we depend on God and one another, and then asking for the help we need. Ultimately, it is God’s faithfulness that leads us out of death and into life.