Why did John the Baptist flee to the desert? Because the barren nature of the desert strips everything back to the point where we are lay bare and our true motivations are revealed. Desert moments in our own lives cause us to ask; what is it all about? John the Baptist seems to tell us that the desert is the only place bare enough and empty enough, for our true motives and disguises to be revealed. Advent encourages us to rest in the desert places of our lives and of our relationships. Like those places mentioned in the Gospel that we wish were levelled smooth or just filled in. Those parts of our lives that long for the new birth of new life. Advent calls us to wait, to be quiet and to trust. Like John the Baptist we too need to trust. Trust our own action and our own contemplation. We too need to trust the John the Baptist figures God gifts us in life. Those people who entice us out of our comfort zones to the daunting new horizons. May we be wild and free enough to accept the message that John the Baptist shares with us today.