There are operations in the supernatural order in which we work with our Lord and cooperate with Him in them. But there are others of a very intimate nature in which the one thing He asks of us is that we do not hinder Him. And in order that we do not impede Him, He gives us a spiritual anesthetic — that is, desolation, since it is a kind of paralysis of the spirit which renders us helpless.
In time of spiritual dryness, souls often think as follows: “I go to prayer, and I do nothing, absolutely nothing.” The soul does nothing, but God does a great deal, although the soul may not be aware of His secret and mysterious operations. But when the period of trial passes, we find that we are different. Without our knowing how or when, a profound change was wrought in us: our love is more solid; our virtue has become stronger. According to the familiar expression, we have come out of the trial “as new.” What does it matter that those afflictions may endure for years on end, if finally the soul emerges as new, fit to be united with God and to realize fully the role it was destined to fill on earth?
Desolation, then, is the indispensable means whereby the soul attains its transformation in Jesus, the supreme goal and the perfection of holiness. We think, perhaps, that transformation in Jesus is something that we can achieve with God’s help. But no. Simply having God’s help is not sufficient. God alone can accomplish it, and the only help that we can give Him is to allow Him a free hand, not to impede Him.
We must make our choice: either we choose transformation, and then we also accept the desolation without which it cannot be arrived at; or we refuse desolation, and then we must also reject transformation and thus give ourselves over to dragging out our life in a common mediocrity.
Desolation is a cross, but one of the most precious, one of the most divine. It is not wrought by the hand of men, but by God Himself. It is a work of the Holy Spirit. The trial, therefore, is made in accordance with the measure of each soul, perfectly fitted to its circumstances, requirements, and mission, and to the degree of perfection to which God has destined it. Hence, trial possesses an eminently sanctifying power.
Let us open our arms to it, then, and salute it with the same cry as the Church uses: “Hail, O Cross, our only hope!” In this way, by reason of all that has been said concerning spiritual afflictions, this truth is once more established: God’s ways are not our ways.
Servant of God Archbishop Luiz Martinez
“Worshipping the Hidden God”
Spiritual desolation is terrifying; God feels utterly absent, distant, unreal; all memories of consolation become untranslatable or inaccessible. The heart becomes dry and hollow; prayer suffers, joy withers, peace disappears. How, then, can this profound numbing of the soul benefit us? How can such a chasm of emptiness possibly do us any good?
That’s what this quote clarifies. That’s the paradox. It doesn’t.
Desolation is the anaesthetic. That’s it’s true job. But God is the surgeon.
When we are desolate, we still know God is real; we still have faith burned into our being, even if we feel nothing, even if doubts and fears plague us nonstop. We hope against hope. We cling to what we cannot even sense anymore, and yet we cannot ever deny it outright. Even collapsed under the weight of our cross, we know Someone gave it to us for a Good Reason, and if that raw fact is ALL we have to go on as we hobble on to Calvary, then so be it; it is enough. It must be enough, if it is all we were given. God knows. We don’t. That’s the point.
We forget that we’re not the ones doing the work. When we are anesthetized, desolate, we cease striving after our own notions of success. We stop taking on more than our share, we abandon ambition, we no longer try to guess or even edit God’s plan for our life. We are like unruly yet beloved children, who genuinely want to help Him with the home repairs but keep losing the tools and touching all the wet paint… we don’t understand when He says “no,” even though He says it with love. We can’t quite grasp the truth of our “not knowing”– of our not even being able to know. We just want to help. Come on, Dad, let me plug in the wires. Let me hold the drill. It looks so easy! But pride is lurking, and ultimately the only way to humble our childish enthusiasm is to give us a time-out. Out of the room, away from Dad, unable to interfere. Out of love.
Soon enough, He will come and get us, and show us what beautiful work He has done… all for us! Allwithin us! So we must doggedly hold on to faith, and hope, and charity, even if just with our feeble will– no feelings, no fervor, just a weak but honest resolution to not give up on God. Wait one more day. One more. One more. Keep waiting. Keep trusting. He remembers you, of course! He is working on you, remember? You’re just under anaesthetic for a while. The numbness is not permanent. Be patient, beloved. Carry the cross with gratitude. It is, truly, our only hope, even in this.
Transformation requires desolation. Remember that. So it was with Christ; so it must be with us.
Re-read the Archbishop’s words and take them deeply to heart. You need this understanding, this acceptance. Sometimes, for the greatest good of our souls, all we can do is let ourselves be put aside so God can do His work. This takes immense trust, and love, and humility. Tell God you are willing. Pray fervently for the grace. Then… well, “count backwards from 100”, as they say. Let God decide when to work. Do not impede Him, even in good will. Surrender to that sanctified numbness. And wait on the Lord.
[ two days late, this my tribute to celebrate perseverance’s amazing descent to mars on february 18, 2021. a good omen for her journey in the jezero crater, mars. I hope she’ll see incredible, amazing, unforgettable things. ]
Angels come into our lives exactly when we need them the most. When we are suffering the most. There’s been times in our lives where it feels like it’s completely falling apart and we try to hold everything together in fear that we are going to lose everything including ourselves. Sometimes that is exactly what needs to happen. When we can completely un-attach our emotions from and thoughts about the people and experiences that have caused or are causing our suffering we can fully be with ourselves. Giving us the opportunity to practice one of the most important practices of all, unconditionally loving and nurturing ourselves. #letitgo #letgosurrenderandbreathe #loveyourself #respectyourself #trustyourself #perseverance #endthesuffering #unattached #relationshipgoals #creatingyounow #gregcarroll #lifecoach #bear #wolf
Creator I thank you for all that you have given me and continue to give me each and every day in each and every possible way.
Creator I thank you for the lessons that you have taught me, both simple and hard. They both make me stronger.
Creator I thank you for the life that you have allowed me to lead. I will be my best for everyone and everything I encounter.
I thank you Mother Earth for your beauty, abundant sustenance and renewal.
I thank you guardian spirits of this universe for the healing, guidance, protection and direction that you always flow through me.
Creator I thank you for the white light that surrounds me, and for that same white light which radiates love and healing from my heart and mind.
I thank you Creator, for the healing of my soul, the healing of Mother Earth, the healing of all the animals and for the healing of all mankind.
I thank you Creator, for allowing me to experience happiness, prosperity, healing and love. Knowing that only when my mind is not in alignment with you is when I feel discord.
I thank you Creator, for my good relations with all things.
I thank you Creator, for sacred direction, sacred protection, sacred correction and sacred connection.
I thank you Creator, for all the magic and miracles I experience in my life each day.
I honor you Creator, as I honor all things seen and unseen.
I honor you Creator, as I honor our ancestors, as I honor our relatives and myself.
I’ll guard and protect you when you need me. #wolf #eagle #animaltotem #wisdomispower #nonjudgemental #honesty #respect #loyalty #perseverance #unityrevolution
A prayer for those that are suffering. May this suffering become your ally that pushes and guides you out of the darkness. Let it guide you through your pain and into the hearts of your beloveds. Let the suffering be the catalyst that demands that your grow into the greatest version of yourself. Let it remind you that you cannot be stopped unless you choose to give up. The suffering is the other side of bliss and without experiencing the suffering you you wouldn’t know how to compare it to bliss let alone know what bliss feels like. If you’re suffering please know that you will get through it and maybe even one day help someone else that’s suffering become empowered by it. You are not alone, we are not alone. All you have to to is ask for help and keep on asking until you get it. Sometimes the best help you get is from yourself. Never give up, never give in and never I repeat never think that it’s time to end your life. I’m here and I’ve suffered and now I know it has become an ally so I can become your ally. Never Was Never Will Never Wanted To Be Just Like The Rest. #suffering #perseverance #unconditionallove #unity #creatingyounow #gregcarroll #lifecoach #shaman #iloveyouall
(Image: Artist’s impression of NASA’s Perseverance rover on Mars)
Today NASA’s Perseverance rover landed on Mars. I don’t usually talk astronomy on this blog, but this time it’s relevant because—as you might have read—Perseverance is more or less the first palaeontologist on Mars!
Let me explain.
(Image: Satellite topography map of Jezero Crater, the site where Perseverance landed)
The site where Perseverance is landing, Jezero Crater, is a meteor impact crater near Mars’s Equator (say that 10 times fast!). It has evidence of a delta—the geomorphic feature that occurs when running water enters a large body of water. Orbital analyses also suggest it’s filled with carbonate rock—the kind that tend to deposit at the bottom of bodies of water.
Jezero Crater is not filled with water today. But the evidence strongly suggests it once was. If we’re going to find evidence of life on Mars, this is a good place to start looking.
Microbial fossils
When you think of fossils, most people think of giant T. rex skeletons, or frozen woolly mammoths, or neanderthal skulls. Maybe you’ve been around the block a bit, and you think about corals, or plant fossils, or tiny fossil shells. But some of the most common and important fossils on Earth are even tinier. Microbial fossils are commonly made by bacteria, archaea, and the like.
(Image: A cross-section of a stromatolite fossil, showing the multiple layers)
Some of the earliest fossils on earth are called stromatolites. They occur when bacterial colonies grow together in a mat—then, over time, sediment deposits over the colony, and the bacteria form another layer on top of the previous layer. Over time, many layers can be formed.
(Image: Helium Ion Microscopy image of iron oxide filaments formed by bacteria)
Although we breathe in oxygen and breathe out carbon dioxide, many microbes are not quite so restricted, and can breathe anything from sulphur to iron to methane or ammonia. When they do this, they often leave behind solid waste products, such as the above iron oxide filaments, that give away their presence. We can tell these apart from normal minerals in a number of ways, including by the relative proportions of different isotopes in them.
(Image: Schematic digram showing how molecular fossils form and are studied)
However, some of the most important fossils are molecular fossils. Living organisms produce a variety of different organic molecules; even long after the bodies of these organisms decay, those molecules can stay behind in an altered form for millions or even billions of years. If we’re looking for evidence of life on Mars, this might be our best bet.
Enter Perseverance
(Image: Diagram of Perseverance rover showing different instruments)
The Perseverance rover is overall similar in design to the Curiosity rover that landed in 2012, but there are some key differences—and most relevant here is that it’s a geological powerhouse. It’s got a number of instruments designed to carry out detailed geologic investigations:
RIMFAX is a ground-penetrating Radar unit. Like normal Radar, it works by sending radio waves into the ground; different materials affect the radio waves differently, as do transitions between different materials. This will allow us to, for the first time, study the geology of Mars below the surface to get an idea of what has been going on down there.
(Image: This is the kind of result produced by ground-penetrating radar—a rough image of the stratigraphy below the surface.)
PIXL(Planetary Instrument for X-ray Lithochemistry) shoots x-rays at samples and examines how they fluoresce in reaction. This allows for the detection of the elemental composition of a sample—helping us better understand the geology of the area, and potentially detect signatures of life.
SuperCam is a multi-function laser spectrometer that uses four different spectroscopy methods to examine the composition of samples. They all work in similar ways—essentially, different molecules react to laser stimulation differently, and different amounts of energy are required to make different molecules vibrate. The way that these molecules react can help us identify their composition, and the hope is that this may allow us to detect molecular fossils (these methods allow us to detect molecular fossils on Earth!)
SHERLOC (Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman & Luminescence for Organics & Chemicals) is another spectroscopic instrument—this one, however, is more precise, and optimised for detecting trace biosignatures in samples. It works similar to the above, using an ultraviolet laser to scan a 7 × 7 mm zone for evidence of organic compounds.
In addition to studying samples in situ, Perseverance will package small samples and leave them behind on Mars. A planned future mission will collect these packaged samples and launch them into space, where an orbiter will collect them and—hopefully—return them to Earth. This would be the first time that samples have ever been recovered from Mars, and would go a long way in increasing our understanding of the Martian environment and geology.
There’s no way of knowing yet what Perseverance will find—but even the fact that a robot palaeontologist is on Mars is incredibly exciting. Here’s to many years of discovery!
NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover has safely landed on our red neighbour. These are the first pictures that it sent back to Earth, moments after making contact! They were taken with the Perseverance’s Hazard cameras. In the next few days it will send more images that are higher quality.
With the main mission objective of astrobiology, Perseverance hopes to help answer the age old question- has there ever been life on Mars?
What do you think? Are we alone in the universe? Send me a message and let me know what you think!
