Today is the feast day of the birth of John the Baptist. Luke's Gospel (Lk 1:57- 66, 80) tells us that John was "in the desert until the day of his manifestation to Israel." We can't tell when John's time in the desert began, since Luke just tells us that as a child John "grew and became strong in soirit," presumably while still at home. But at some point, presumably as a young man, John left his parents and lived in the desert. We think John baptized Jesus when Jesus was about 30 years old, and John was only six months or so older than Jesus, so John would have been a bit older than 30. He could easily have been in the desert many years before he began preaching repentance and baptizing in the Jordan River. Why the whole desert experience? Why didn't John just start preaching and baptizing whem he was old enough to leave home? And, as we think about that, we might remember as well that Jesus also had a desert experience for 40 days after He was baptized and before He started His public ministry. There must be something about having that quiet time, that spiritual experience, that opportunity to get to know who you truly are, that both John and jesus needed to have before they were ready to do the work that they came to do. The reality is that we can't be effective ministers to others unless we have our own act together. You can't give what you don't have, as the saying goes. Before we begin to try to spread the good news of Christianity to the world, we'd better be and stay well grounded, or we can do more harm than good. I speak from experience in this regard. The time in the desert gave John and Jesus what they needed. It can do the same for us. Maybe we don't have the opportunity to get away from it all in the literal sense that John and Jesus did for years or even weeks. But wherever we are and whatever our situation, we can find time for silence and being alone if we make that a priority. Jesus often did that during His ministry. There is wisdom in what the Spirit had John and Jesus do. So find your own little piece of desert, and spend some time there every day. You'll be glad you did.