The Desert

 The call into the desert in meditation is not about separating from the world as if the world is bad.  We are all part of the world, nature, creation.  The desert is not running away.  It is about distractions.  The desert is about being called away from distractions, so that we can wake up to what are distractions as opposed to what is important.  Distractions fill up our life when we are anxious, fearful, selfish, resentful, and bored, to name a few causes of what multiplies distractions in our life.  Meditation quiets us down and separates us from these distractions just enough to see them for what they are: unnecessary impediments to being our best self which will include service to others in need.  I try to go into the desert a couple of times a day.  It gives me a good balance.