Article March 29, 1993 Issue

A way through the wilderness

The Christian Science Monitor

As my husband and I traveled through the desert Southwest, the scenery was drab and dry, mostly sand, rock, and tumbleweed. The trees were scrubby and far apart. It reminded me of the children of Israel wandering in the wilderness. But when I later looked up wilderness in the Glossary of Science and Health by Mrs. Eddy, I discovered that I had been missing some of the deeper meaning of the children of Israel's desert wanderings.

Mrs. Eddy gives a two-part explanation of wilderness. The first part, "Loneliness; doubt; darkness," embodies what I'd been seeing. But the second urges us to a more spiritual perception: "Spontaneity of thought and idea; the vestibule in which a material sense of things disappears, and spiritual sense unfolds the great facts of existence."

I was struck by the idea of considering the wilderness as a vestibule where spiritual unfoldment takes place. A vestibule is a small, enclosed porch. It's as close to the house as you can get without actually being inside. It's not a scary or desolate place to be at all. Though we sometimes seem to be wandering in the wilderness, in the long term it can also be a place of momentous import and spiritual enlightenment.

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