Desperation

Thoreau is quoted as saying, “Most men live lives of quiet desperation.” I don’t know about you, but my desperation has not always been so silent. The trauma of childhood abuse, the tenacious impact of poverty, and the pervasive influence of my fallen culture, sometimes caused my inner despair to ooze out in inappropriate and unproductive ways. Seems to me I’m not alone. There’s a growing number of folks whose inner, quiet, desperation is becoming a deafening noise of chaos and dysfunction. Nonetheless, it doesn’t have to be that way. It doesn’t matter if a person’s desperation is quiet or loud, there’s a place of rest for any, and all, who seek it. Thoreau didn’t know that Christ followers are not most men. We can calm our quiet desperation by the desperate pursuit of God’s presence.