The Depth of Faith

"But, what will they do here who see that after many days there is nothing but dryness, distaste, vapidness, and very little desire to come to draw water?"

--Teresa of Avila

Teresa has much to teach us about living the faith life in the desert. After all, she lived her life in the Spanish Inquisition! She pictured spirituality as "fetching water from the well," with the prayer, "and please God that it may be found." There are times, she laments, that "the well is dry."

What can we do when the well is dry? We continue sending our buckets down into the well shaft and drawing them up, as faithful gardeners. In so doing, Teresa teaches, we embrace the cross. After all, doesn't it require more faith to continue our devotion to God during these dry spells than when we are full of good feelings and excitement? You may never know the pillars of spiritual strength that you encounter in everyday life, who are faithfully living out their love for God in ways that aren't so eye-catching and spectacular.

Dangers in the desert