--Veronica Brady, Australian writer

 

And so we continue on in Lent. In the season of Lent, we take our cue from the scripture lesson that sets us off - the story of Jesus' forty days in the wilderness. And in this season, we are on a forty-day journey ourselves, through the wilderness out around us and the wilderness we find inside ourselves.

I suspect it's the wilderness inside ourselves that causes us the most consternation. The wilderness "out there" may be scary, may even be dangerous, but at least we can keep it at a distance. When the wilderness shows up inside us, it is harder to ignore, harder to keep at bay. In Lent we are invited to stop ignoring it, to stop keeping that wilderness at bay. We are invited to turn again toward God, and even to dare to turn toward the wilderness, even to explore it.

The wilderness is those corners of our lives where, as the quote above suggests, it feels like our world or even our lives are falling apart. It may be a wilderness of grief or sorrow, a wilderness of loneliness, a wilderness of insecurity or lack of direction.

Why would God call us into such places?  I am convinced that we are called into the wilderness for the promise of new life we find there. If we can only make the effort to open our dark and tangled places to view - even if only the view of our own honest gaze - then God's love and healing touch have been invited in. What we thought were broken pieces turn out to be puzzle pieces, just waiting to find their places so a whole picture might emerge. The wilderness journey can be a strenuous one - but it is always a journey headed toward Easter, and the promise of new life it brings.