The Path of Descent
We have been blessed with profound spiritual teachers and guides who have illuminated the path of descent for us. Wendell Berry, the farmer-poet of Kentucky, has affirmed the rootedness in place and the mystical power of the earth that we have felt in our own lives. His novels like Jayber Crow and Hannah Coulter carry a sense of the sacred in the ordinary, anchoring us to the soil and the land. We resonate with Berry’s humble recognition that he is simply a “convergence of gifts from elsewhere.”
Julian of Norwich, the 14th century mystic, has been another luminary showing us the way of love even in the face of death’s door. Her Revelations of Divine Love teach us to see only love, to be perpetually falling deeper in love with the Divine. Like the medieval mystics, we too yearn for that passionate love affair with God, beauty, and the fullness of life.
The Desert Fathers and Mothers have been pivotal guides as well, drawing us into the stark silence and solitude of the wilderness. Their fierce, countercultural form of Christianity demands a loving resistance to the ways of our culture. We are inspired by their edgy, radical embrace of the spiritual path on the margins.
For some of us, it was the grievous loss of loved ones that precipitated our own pivotal descents into the desert landscapes. The deaths of a brother and mother within months opened a wilderness period of grief. An overwhelming call came to journey to the deserts of Egypt, to spread ashes on Mount Sinai in a symbolic return to the source.
It was in this season that we encountered Belden Lane’s book The Solace of Fierce Landscapes. This became a life-raft, a spiritual anchor that introduced us to the desert tradition in a way that resonated deeply. Lane’s own deconstruction of a punitive, fundamentalist God mirrored our own spiritual unraveling. His love affair with the desert terrains became our own as we were initiated into this stark, sacred space.
For some, it was the agonizing loss of a child that drove the descent into the fierce landscapes. The death of a son from cancer, just as he seemed to have turned his life around, unleashed profound grief and anger. A vision quest was undertaken in the desert canyons, to try and release the son’s anguish over his truncated life.
The Desert Vigil
Yet it was not the son who needed releasing, but ourselves. In the solitude of the desert ridge, overlooking the expanse of Orphan Mesa, the way opened for us to finally keep vigil with our son’s body on that night of his death over a year ago.
As we settled into that nightlong witnessing, a profound shift occurred. The rising full moon cast its ethereal light upon the mesa’s rim, bathing the landscape in a soft, luminous glow. In that moment, the desert became a thin place, a portal into the sacred mystery.
The moon’s rays illuminated the scene as a vigil, not just with our son’s body, but with the body of the Cosmic Christ. The desert’s deathly, cold beauty mirrored the stillness of our loved one’s form, drained of life’s vitality. Yet in that very moment, we knew we were being visited, reassured that our son, like Christ, was now part of the Larger Body, held in an embrace of peace and healing love.
It was Julian’s words echoing across the centuries: “All will be well, and all manner of things will be well.” The desert vigil became a tender blessing, a release into the deepest wellspring of Life and Love itself.
We struggle still with the loss, the torn fabric of our lives. Yet that night vigil was a turning point, a thin place where the desert became for us the womb of new life, new hope, new love. The path of descent revealed itself as a path of transformation, a dying and rising into deeper communion with the Source of all Being.
As we continue the journey, embracing the fierce landscapes whenever they appear, we know the desert waits to welcome us again. For this is the place where God’s presence has so often come to us, carrying us ever deeper into the heart of Love. The way of descent is the way of Love’s deepening, Love’s radical embrace that includes all things, even death itself.
We are humbled by the teachings of the desert ammas and abbas, those holy souls who retreated to the wilderness to encounter the Beloved. Their witness has become our own, as we too follow the path that leads through the narrow gate of surrender into Life’s deepest mystery. Thanks to their guidance, and to the solace of fierce landscapes, we are slowly learning to let go and fall more fully into the arms of Love.
SUMMARY
Wendell Berry, the Kentucky farmer and poet, has been an influential teacher for Belden Lane, affirming the power of place and earth rootedness through his novels like Jayber Crow and Hannah Coulter. Julian of Norwich, the 14th-century mystic, has taught about seeing only love, even at death’s door, through her work Book of Showings. Her passion for God, beauty, and love is inspiring. The Desert Fathers and Mothers have also been influential teachers, with their passion for God, emphasis on silence, and countercultural, edgy form of Christianity that demands loving resistance.
In 2008, the loss of a brother and mother within months led to a pivotal journey to the deserts of Egypt for Belden Lane and an introduction to the spirituality of the desert tradition through his own book The Solace of Fierce Landscapes. The book deeply impacted his grieving process, spiritual life, and love for the desert, offering a deconstructed form of Christianity that resonated. Later, the death of his son from acute myeloid leukemia led to a vision quest in the desert, where the realization came that the son had to release the grieving father from anguish. During the vision quest, a vigil was kept through the night, with the desert landscape and the rising full moon providing solace and a sense of the son’s peace in death, echoing Julian of Norwich’s assurance that “all will be well.” The desert has been a place where God has often come for Belden Lane, carrying him deeper into love, even amidst the struggle with his son’s loss.
KEY POINTS
1. Wendell Berry, the Kentucky farmer and poet, has been an influential teacher, affirming the power of place and earth rootedness through his novels like Jayber Crow and Hannah Coulter.
2. Julian of Norwich, the 14th-century mystic, has taught about seeing only love, even at death’s door, through her work Book of Showings. Her passion for God, beauty, and love is inspiring.
3. The Desert Fathers and Mothers have been influential teachers, with their passion for God, emphasis on silence, and countercultural, edgy form of Christianity that demands loving resistance.
4. In 2008, the loss of a brother and mother within months led to a pivotal journey to the deserts of Egypt and an introduction to the spirituality of the desert tradition through Belden Lane’s book The Solace of Fierce Landscapes.
5. The Solace of Fierce Landscapes deeply impacted the grieving process, spiritual life, and love for the desert, offering a deconstructed form of Christianity that resonated.
6. The death of a son from acute myeloid leukemia led to a vision quest in the desert, where the realization came that the son had to release the grieving father from anguish.
7. During the vision quest, a vigil was kept through the night, with the desert landscape and the rising full moon providing solace and a sense of the son’s peace in death, echoing Julian of Norwich’s assurance that “all will be well.”
8. The desert has been a place where God has often come, carrying the grieving father deeper into love, even amidst the struggle with his son’s loss.
