Dear sisters and brothers,
Lent is a kind of wilderness. We pare back activity and distraction to create space to pay attention to the subtle movements of God in our lives. For those who observe it, Lent is a chosen wilderness, but most of the wilderness experiences of our lives come to us unbidden. Like Jesus, we find ourselves being driven into the wilderness when we find ourselves in situations of weakness, limitation, and vulnerability that we would have selected from a menu of options for our life.
The short account of Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness we read from Mark’s Gospel this past Sunday tells us that Jesus, too, was driven into the wilderness, where he encountered temptations and “wild beasts” (an apocalyptic metaphor for the “principalities and powers” of this world). But there are also angels in the wilderness, sent by God to take care of Jesus.
It will be the same with us in our wildernesses: temptations and wild beasts, to be sure, but also angels. Also God. Because the truth is that when Jesus went into the wilderness and resisted the temptations of Satan and faced down the wild beasts, he transformed the wilderness, every wilderness, into a place where God lives. Our wilderness experiences can now be experiences of communion with and care from God.
In the midst of whatever wilderness you’re facing today, friends, I invite you take a few deep breaths and notice how God has been caring for you, how angels have been ministering to you, how you’ve been sustained in the wilderness.
Grace and peace,
Fr. Ben
