Marooned

There are two ways you can be become marooned.  One, you have broken a rule of the code and instead of death you are marooned.  Two, you shipwreck on an island and are marooned.  It is a feeling of powerlessness and loneliness when you are marooned.  I speak of spiritual marooning since I have not actually encountered the literal version.  The spiritual is just as desolate.  I experienced 7 months of being marooned.  I would go to daily mass and feel nothing.  I would pray the rosary and feel nothing.  I just felt dead inside.  I knew God was there for me and present in my life, but I just felt like a dried up husk wondering how he could possibly bring me back to life.  It affected me outside in minor ways that other people did not really notice.  I would look at beautiful things and not feel inspired like I had in the past just to pray a prayer of thanksgiving.  I would sit before the tabernacle or the Blessed Sacrament and wait for My Master's Voice.  I would strain to hear a whisper, desperate to hear anything. Nothing.

How is one saved from being marooned?  Well, in the literal sense another boat comes along and if the Captain (after hearing your plea) grants you permission to come aboard-you are saved.  In the spiritual life, it is very similar.  The Captain hears your pleas (he always does) and then he does the most amazing thing he reminds you that you are His and the you have already been saved.  Now each spiritual story is different.  Some really did leave the boat and find their way back to it.  In my case, I was on the boat and one of the crew was sent to help me open my eyes and see that I was not marooned.  I was sent a Spiritual Director, who was able to help me brush the sand off and help me get my sea legs back under me.  I have been trying to figure out his function on the Ship and have come to the conclusion that he is the Ship's Doctor.  He listens to my symptoms and what is ailing me and then prescribes a prayer, spiritual reading, meditation on scripture passages and I have seen progress.  The good Doctor has also assured me that sometimes I will not hear my Captain's Voice and it is not because I am being punished or have fallen away.  Sometimes, He gives us a rest from His presence because He is so great and we do need a rest.  It is during this time of rest that we are usually being formed for some task that He is preparing us for and that is why one of the virtues is patience.

So fellow crew mates if you are feeling like your are shipwrecked or marooned, go to the Ship's Doctor for he is there to help you prepare for what the Captain may be calling you to do.