Deposit and withdrawal… In life as in bank account, there is the constant process of input and output. Ups and downs, good times and bad… such is the drama of living. A day before I rejoice in so many consolations, the next day I was easily put down in desolation. God is gracious. He enables for me to appropriate His grace with the means that He provides. What to do in times of desolation…
1) Take a hike or a drive… go away from the source of my desolation. It is quite a paradox that while I am usually impatient on the road whether as passenger or driver, I am most patient during my desolation. In fact, driving for me is therapeutic. I intentionally revel (take joy) in cruising, giving way, waiting patiently. Let me say that this is a long process. I have gone through times when I drove so wildly that if not by God’s mercy, my ill intention to harm myself would have been realised.
2) Go walking… it would have been nice if we had a park to walk in. Still, the mall is good enough. Walking around, window-shopping, buying only what’s needed is a therapeutic exercise in self-control, in focus – not to dwell on the unpleasant, not to buy indulgently….
And so after an hour or two, I go back to the place of my desolation – no longer desolate but much consoled. And I go on to the next day… such is the journey of life – traveling towards Christlikeness, in the footsteps of Jesus, with the comfort and counsel of the Holy Spirit, assured of the love of God the Father!
Art for this post on Consolation and Desolation: María Magdalena como melancolía (Mary Magdalene as Melancholy), Artemisia Gentileschi, between 1622 and 1625