Home

Wandering in the Wilderness

February 27, 2009 | posted by Lars under lent, mexico, reflections

Two days ago, in San Luis Potosí, we marked Ash Wednesday, the beginning of a new season in the church year - Lent. For many of those in the Roman Catholic majority, the day was the beginning of a time of fasting, marked by ashes on the forehead from the hand of the priest. (Paradoxically, it was also the day of a late-night carnival downtown…) The day was a significant milestone for us in our journey for several reasons, as well. From setting out on January 6, we had been on the road for 50 days prior to Wednesday. We began our journey on Epiphany, the day celebrating the visit of the magi to the newborn Jesus. It’s a day and a season, it seems, where the gold & incense play a secondary - if allusive - part to the realization that even as an infant, Christ has come as “a light to all nations,” and that even in its infancy, His reign is one which turns power on its head, distressing a grown king at the birth of a peasant boy, and causing wise men to travel thousands of miles to visit this boy. In the season of Epiphany, we celebrated not just the mystery of God incarnate, but the revelation that this Savior is for all the world and presents a very different reign than this world can comprehend.

Now, after a quick slip in to Ordinary Time, we find ourselves in Lent, the 40-day season preceding Easter. Forty days, like the years of the Israelites’ wanderings and the duration of Christ’s fasting and temptations. It’s a time to remember our own humanity, our own weakness; a time to wander into our own deserts with God, so that He may also lead us out. It’s a time to find our wounds and press into them, make them hurt, make them bleed, so that we are prepared to be healed by Jesus’ own wounds and blood. The healing is certain - we will be made whole - but first we must prepare ourselves by probing deeply into our need.

So, we wander (we hope more metaphorically than physically) in order to explore our humanity and our brokenness, in order to be tempted by apothecaries who promise remedies other than that of the Healer. During this season, Jon & I have decided to allow for at least 15 minutes of silence for prayer before setting out each day as we embark on this journey through Lent, knowing that before we arrive at Easter in Managua, God will lead us through the wilderness, through our own wretchedness, to the brutality of the passion and beyond, so that we, with Christ, may experience the resurrection from the dead.

Thirty-seven days to Managua.

Thought kernels (thoughts from the past several days): • How do I measure time, and how does that point to what I value? What ‘calendars’ do I use? • What are my wildernesses?