“Oh, how often virtue suffers only because it remains silent.” (Saint Faustina, Diary 236).
In California in the United States of America, there is a national park and in it is a valley, which is the lowest and hottest and driest part of the National Park. This valley is called “Death Valley”.
Every two years or so, the valley receives about one centimetre of rain. And so, it is in fact a desert. Though I have never visited Death Valley, I have recently read a story about it. Once, in 2004, in the space of three days, Death Valley received fifteen centimetres of rain. This was a very unusual occurrence. However, after this rain, Death Valley, which had previously been dry and dusty without any form or sign of life, became littered with flowers.
Those flowers had germinated from seeds that had long lain dormant under the surface of the soil and with the introduction of sufficient water, those flowers were able to blossom.
And I have been thinking about that today, because those flowers are a sign of the life that was always possible despite all the barrenness of the Death Valley and this reminds me of the life eternal that I have waiting for me after this life.
You see, just as Death Valley looks like a desert, which is unable to sustain any form of life, so too can this Earthly life of mine appear bleak and problematic. Sometimes terrible things happen to us in this Earthly life. Every soul who ever lived experiences heartbreak and hardship. For some, this looks like the death of a loved one – particularly of a child. In this case, a person could live for the remainder of their Earthly life mourning the loss of that person on the Earth. It could financial-stress or problematic intimate relationships. The suffering could be abuse and disrespect. It could present as loneliness, or poor physical health or mental illness, or addiction, or just a simple unhappiness that transcends every level of life.
And when we suffer, we can feel that our Earthly life is no different from Death Valley. It is no different from a desert. It can feel barren and bleak.
However, the Saints were able to see beyond that bleakness. Saints like Saint Faustina and Saint Therese of Lisieux and even Saint Charbel knew that their lives on Earth were simply an opportunity to plant seeds into the desert soil so that one day – in eternity – such seeds would blossom into flowers. And in this way those Saints were unafraid to suffer because they knew that no siffering was wasted.
Saint Faustina wrote in her Diary at 236, “Oh, how often virtue suffers only because it remains silent. To be sincere with those who are incessantly stinging us demands much self‑denial. One bleeds, but there are no visible wounds. O Jesus, it is only on the last day that many of these things will be made known. What joy – none of our efforts will be lost!”
And today I pray for the Grace to wait for the rain. Because just three days of rain could germinate a million seeds. And today, I pray for the Grace to wait for that!
For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.
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