Holy Wilderness

He sustained him in a desert land,
   in a howling wilderness waste;
he shielded him, cared for him,
   guarded him as the apple of his eye.

Deuteronmy 32

It has been true throughout recorded spiritual history (and probably non-recorded history) that we often find God when we are stripped bare and open to God’s appearance.  It is in these wilderness places of the heart, these deserts of the soul, that we are most likely to encounter the Divine.

Lent, as practiced by the Church, is meant to be a journey into wilderness through prayer, confession and abstinence.  Lest we find this description too bleak, we have only to look to the Song of Moses in Deuteronomy to remember that God journeys with us.  Moses sings of God’s gentle, sheltering care within the wild places.  God is a soft place in the hard rock of the desert.

I had my first experiences of God in what others might consider a wilderness, the countryside and mountains of Alaska.  For me the vast emptiness of landscape and the large grandeur of an unending sky spoke to the deepest parts of my soul.  My God was very big, and I was very small.  Dangers notwithstanding, the cold arctic moon revived my spirit and the clear arctic days sharpened my love of beauty.

Space to move around in, and space to think, created openness to revelation.  And this is what Lent is actually about, I think.  Making space.

Our Lenten observations can make space in our schedules.  Our confessions can make space in our consciences.  Our prayers make space in our hearts.

We need space.  We need soul room.  We need enough air around us to breath deeply of the Spirit of the Lord, and to imagine a new vision for our lives.

When we enter the wilderness of Lent with the expectation of encounter, we will be guided, like Jesus, to the reality of our identity in God.

This year there will be two opportunities to explore holy wilderness.  March 10^th and March 17^th the Center for Spiritual Development and Memorial Church will offer Quiet Days focused on the Way of the Wilderness.  For more information check out the
website.   http://www.saintjames.org/CSD/120213-lent.html