Embracing the Desert: The Gifts of Unemployment

The desert of our job loss carries with it a certain sparseness, an emptiness we must grieve but that can bring blessings we might not recognize at first. We can feel the loss of fewer new clothes, fewer tickets to games or shows, fewer new gadgets. The truth, though, is that sometimes what we once viewed as small luxuries came to be distractions. The loss of these extras can serve a helpful de-cluttering, asking us to look at what is most important and inviting us to appreciate what we have as opposed to focusing on what we are doing without. With less clutter, we are often more disposed to see God in the people and relationships that sustain us as opposed to looking too much toward the things that distract us.

If the danger, fear, and sparseness of the desert can open us to the blessings of a greater trust in God and a deeper vision of what is most important, they can also invite us to conversion and change.

When we are comfortable, we change little. Even though we might recognize a need for some change, we convince ourselves the need is not pressing enough to go through the effort change would require. With regard to our job loss or our lack of success in finding a good job, we might realize we have been arrogant or condescending toward others. From a perspective of vulnerability, we can now see our lack of compassion or our inflated sense of self-importance. Given some newfound sparseness, we can take the time and the emotional space to really work on becoming the persons we now feel called to be.