The Wilderness experience

[rortiz]

This chapter brought me back very vivid memories of my time serving as a Navy Chaplain, deployed with the Marines, in Kuwait and Iraq. Summer days in Kuwait were horribly hot and windy, stormy and sandblasting, frequently around 130 degrees Fahrenheit, and very cold nights. During the frequent sandstorms, there was no way to prevent the fine sand dust to find its way inside the tent. I had to be extra careful not to become a victim of the many dangerous creatures lurking in the darkness. That experience helped me to develop new appreciation for what the children of Israel experienced during their forty years of wilderness experience.

As the shepherd for my approximately 1900 Marines in my Engineering Battalion, I was moving continuously during the day, and even during the evening. The Chaplain represents the presence of the Divine, and the chaplain’s presence brings them a moment of relaxation and peace. Very frequently, I found solace and great opportunity for meditation during the early hours of the morning or the evening. In Kuwait, while sitting outside my tent, or during my evening shepherding walks inside the tall berm, I was so thankful to God for the lighter warm breeze, which gradually transitioned into a starry and very cold night. My continued thought day or night was: “The Lord is my shepherd.� The desert, away from any modern convenience or distraction, became for me an open book inviting my attention to enjoy nature, enjoy meditation and prayer, and learning to depend on my “Shepherd.�