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Conversations with God

The desert is a mysterious place. People have been going there seeking wisdom since the dawn of time, and more often than not they got something for their efforts. It might not always be wisdom, at least not the kind they sought ("next time I'll bring sunscreen and plenty of water"). But the desert always rewarded wisdom-seekers. If they did not find wisdom, then maybe they met their god. Believe me, it can happen to the best of us.

It's not a sign of mental illness to talk to incorporeal beings. It's only when they answer back we should be on our guard and maybe seek help. This piece of old advice unfortunately very few of the desert's wise men paid much heed to – and that's how we got our religions today.

Photo: The Mojave Desert.

I had reached an age when I should have had things figured out. What things? Well, you know, those pesky questions concerning life and death that we grapple with in our youth, before we grow complacent as adults and decide our search for answers is best put off until we are older and wiser.

That happened to me half a century ago, and I still felt no wiser. Older yes, but wiser, no. A few things I couldn't help learning over the years, of course, because life is the ultimate teacher. But knowledge is not wisdom. Any robot with artificial intelligence is more knowledgeable in its particular field than I will ever be. Still, it is dumb as a cluck and will never acquire an iota of wisdom.

So, it was probably time to get serious before my years were all up. After some soul searching, I decided to follow in the footsteps of most wisdom seekers through the ages - go live all alone by myself in the desert. Maybe it was the solitude, maybe the stark beauty of the landscape, I didn't know. But for some unexplained reason, the desert always seemed to bring clarity and answers to these guys. And if the seekers of old found wisdom, maybe I could as well.

(Excerpt from chaper 1.)

The temptation of St. Anthony. Painting by an unknown follower of Jan Brueghel the Younger:

In my search for answers, I decided to spend forty days and forty nights in the desert. If the wisdom-seekers of old found enlightenment this way, maybe it would work in my time and age as well, I figured. Little did I realize what a fool’s errand it would turn out to be.

Conversations with God is a true account of what happened during those forty days and nights, an account of encounters with the Almighty himself, his servant Moses, the Devil, and many other characters known from Bible history.*)

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*) Disclaimer.

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author's imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.