In Scottish mythology, the Juniper has the power to ward off evil. In the Bible, the Juniper provides a place of refuge…
For us, it is these and more — the Juniper is a place for us to watch and wait for God. Oh, but do not misunderstand! Waiting for God is participatory! Waiting for God is an activity!
Elijah walked into the wilderness and sat down under a Juniper. He wanted to die. He said, “It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life....”
— cf 1 Kings 19:4
Elijah’s suffering had stripped him of all hope. He had spoken the words God told him to speak, but no one had listened. They not only didn’t listen, they wanted him dead. What Elijah didn’t realize, however, was that his suffering had readied him for an encounter with God, an encounter that would alter his life completely.
God makes use of two powerful forces, Richard Rohr* teaches, to gift us with the ability to run straight into Them**: love and suffering. Because we have so trivialized love, it is often suffering that will drive us into our own wildernesses, stripping from us all that gets in the way of true vision. We are wise to find a Juniper in such a wilderness. We are wise to sit for a time. We are wise to watch and wait.
God will come.
*Rohr, The Universal Christ (see Resources)
**As God is neither male nor female and as God is Creator, Redeemer, and Spirit, I have chosen to use Them, Their, They in reference to God.
Take the Juniper Pact.
I consent to come sit beneath the Juniper, to watch and wait for God, even as I go about all the busy-ness of my life. I will nurture an attitude of awareness.
I consent to bring my suffering, my question, my confusion, and, yes, even my anger to God’s attention.
I consent to open myself to God, to listen, to allow, to imagine.
I will return…
Read Beneath the Juniper
Explore Other Resources