Confession: I am not fond of desert places. I grew up in the damp south west and my ideal landscape has green hills and valleys. But many naturalists and explorers have shown us, graphically, that desert wildernesses have their own sparse but tough wild life. And some of course have human populations, enduring harsh and challenging conditions.
Our Lent reminds us of the 40 days Jesus spent in the Judaean wilderness. It prompts us to strip away, even if only in our imagination, the comforts we take for granted; to aim for greater simplicity so that we can be back in touch with the truly important truths of our faith. With Jesus.
We know that the Devil tempted Jesus in the desert. But the gospels are silent about what Jesus found there to equip him for his brief but world changing ministry. Surely he found the One who blessed him at his baptism. In the extremes of temperature and in his privations, he met with God and knew him in a way which no one else has ever matched.
Amid all our sophistications, we have deserts too. Challenging places of devastation and ruin and personal loneliness. It is good to know, then, that Jesus has been there and found God profoundly alive and active.
Lord our God,
help us to find you in the beauty of our world
and in the solitary places of hard existence;
that we may walk together with your Son
and through him know you,
our life and the source of all being.
Amen.
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