Does the thought of having to go through a wilderness experience seem harsh, desolate, and lonely? This is the mental picture I had. I was surprised and slightly annoyed one day when a friend mentioned she thought I was going through such an experience and that it would prove to be of great value. The first part of the definition of "wilderness" in Science and Health by Mrs. Eddy was all I remembered: "Loneliness; doubt; darkness." Certainly I didn't want to be there or want other people to think I was there.
But my friend's remark wouldn't leave me; so I turned to the definition again and found it had a second part I had completely forgotten: "Spontaneity of thought and idea; the vestibule in which a material sense of things disappears, and spiritual sense unfolds the great facts of existence." Science and Health, p. 597; My feelings about being in the wilderness were reversed; I decided, yes, that was exactly where I should be; I needed to work actively to see and grasp more fully "the great facts of existence."
What happens in this wilderness? Can we actually find an upspringing of hope, joy, renewal—a deeper grasp of Life, God?
