ABSTRACT
As a theological, spiritual, and literary trope, the image of the wilderness is one that is easily relatable for Jews and Christians struggling with trauma in their own lives. In particular, the wilderness narrative in the Pentateuch (Exodus through Deuteronomy) draws on themes of divine presence and absence, provision and lack, and charting a way forward in the midst of trauma. This chapter examines Moses’ speech in Deuteronomy 8, arguing that the community chooses to remember the wilderness experience as one of both desolation and consolation. Therefore, the community constructing the narrative in Babylonian diaspora, as well as successive generations of Jews reflecting on the experience, were able to draw meaning from their trauma. The choice to narrate their experiences meaningfully is one way people of faith display resilience in the face of trauma. Deuteronomy 8 is a narrative that has wide elucidatory power for individuals struggling with their own spiritual wildernesses and who are seeking to cultivate meaning out of them and to utilise them in their own spiritual formation.
