Dear Friends,

The edge of Lent – 40 days, not including Sundays, of going into the Wilderness is about to begin.  Recently, in a sermon I preached I included the idea of Wilderness and discovered the meaning of the word.  To be in the wilderness or the desert was a time of getting to know God.  This startling fact, for me, was I had never thought about being in the wild parts of life and inside of me as an opportunity to relate to God.  Oh sure I had heard and read about the desert mothers and fathers monks who lived in places like that.  I had also heard a lot about people who went into times of silence to meet God.  I have done a lot of that myself.  But I had never thought about wandering around in my inner spiritual wilderness as a time to meet God.  Why not?  It sure makes sense when you stop and reflect on it.

Lent was Jesus’ time to go off and fast and pray for 40 days and nights.  He was then tempted by the devil with those parts of life which would cause Him to lose focus on God.  Maybe this explains my misunderstanding.  I have fasted, not eating, at various time in my life but that is one spiritual discipline which has not worked for me.  There is however another kind of fast which is also spiritual.  It is to empty ourselves for God.  Actually that is the definition of celibacy.  We have been a bit confused about that one in the church.  We think we need to fast from intimate relationships with someone we love to serve God.  That certainly works for some people, but to say this is the way for all I believe is a mistake.  Of course, to say anything is the right  way for all people has always struck me as off the mark.  Now if we think about fasting from that which takes us away from God’s Love, we can begin to see how we can get to know God more fully.  We might see why we might shy away from this idea also.  It takes a lot of work to do this, or it may even mean giving up something we can’t live without.

This brings us to the second thing which might have caused us to not see our inner wildernesses as an opportunity to grow in God.  The idea of facing our temptations.  Sometimes we may think it is easier to live life unaware.  As long as I don’t know what sets me off, I don’t have to face it.  The major problem with such an approach is we continue to live a life which is unfulfilled.  Jesus didn’t choose to do that.  As hard as it was for Him to face his inner demons, He realized He could not know God if He didn’t.  So Jesus took a look at what would take Him away fom God.  In the midst of that He found out who God was in life’s temptations.  To get to know God is to see God as an active Partner in whatever happens to us.  Does this mean our temptations go away? – No.  Does this mean we will never fail in meeting them? – No.  What it does mean is God loves us in and through our temptations.

I hope Lent will be a very rich Wilderness time for you.

Gary

Dear Friends,

Here I sit at my computer with another opportunity to write a letter to you.  I have to come up with something to write.  What if I don’t feel like writing?  Fortunately, for me, I love to write and be creative.  What if I can’t come up with anything?  Again I am very blessed because, like writing sermons, that has rarely happened to me.  What if I would rather be doing something else?  Once more I love what I do, so that isn’t a problem for me.  So, here I sit at my computer with another wonderful opportunity to relate some of my inner thoughts with you.

Those three questions I raised in the previous paragraph speak to the essence of our lives.  What if we don’t feel like doing something?  Does this mean I only do the things I feel like doing?  What if doing something I don’t feel like is actually helpful to me?  For example, I may not feel like doing dishes, but if I don’t I won’t have clean dishes to eat off.  So even though I don’t feel like it I will do it because it will be better for me in the long run.  The tricky thing about feelings is that they ebb and flow with our ongoing daily activities.  To let our feelings rule our lives is asking for trouble.  Sometimes we may need to rise above them to embrace our true desires.  At first I didn’t love to write, but as I become more disciplined in writing I found it is something which is an important part of me.

The second question deals with how our abilities arise.  To be afraid of not coming up with something means I have to do it.  If God is the source of all things than God provides me with these ideas.  I no longer have to depend on me.  This leads me back to staying in touch with the endless font of thoughts.  I know I need to have my quiet time with God to be attentive to God’s Voice.  I also know I need to read various books and other things to be refreshed.  What provides you with the ability to stay in touch with God?  What creative activities provides the inspiration for you to do your calling?  Each of us has our own path to walk with God and our gifts.  We spend our lives discovering this fact.  Remember as you do this God is a God of abundance.

The third question relates to what we want to do with our lives.  I think we are called to do everything in our lives that comes from our inner Being.  Who we are translates into what we do.  When we are being who we are there is a passion of spirit which drives our actions.  We feel energized rather than depleted.  The final piece to the puzzle called life is found in always doing what we want.  In the process we spend day after day determining what kind of life we will co-create with God.

I share these questions knowing each of us have the answers to them in our hearts.  May God bless us with God’s Presence as we journey forth.

Gary