Lent is an important part of our journey. Each step we take has been walked at one time in the gospels. We know that this our spiritual journey begins in the desert and leads us to the cross and to a tomb and “ends” with Easter, where our journey to God begins again. In our readings for next Sunday, (Matthew 4:1-11), the first Sunday in Lent, we are told that “Jesus was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil.” What do these temptations or tests mean to us in our lives today? There are questions we answer with our lips, and those we answer with our lives.
I have been fortunate to have travelled fairly extensively in my life, both for business and pleasure. Admittedly travelling is one of my passions, although in recent years I am more selective about my destination with regard to the risk to benefit associated with where and why I am travelling. Is the payoff worth the sacrifice?
Over the years I have observed that there are two types of journeymen. I would categorize these as being either tourists or travelers. The tourist travels through his journey in comfort, ensuring that his experiences are familiar and safe. He makes sure that he takes “his stuff” from back home with him. There are many vendors along the way who, for a price, would be willing to accommodate the tourist’s expectations and satisfy his needs, most of which are likely superficial and soon forgotten when he returns home armed with photos, souvenirs, and pleasant memories.
On the other hand, a traveler is one whose goal is to enjoy the journey as part of a total experience in which the destination is just a part of a continuum. He travels to open his mind and spirit to new experiences and perhaps delve into the unknown in the hope that something new will learned and be revealed. The difference between the traveler and the tourist is that the traveler becomes the experience while the tourist rides on the outside and looks in.
A few months ago, we decided to take a trip to the Galapagos Islands; our primary goal was to savor the new learning experience as an expedition and be as totally involved as circumstances would permit. This required us to push our bodies safely beyond their accustomed limits, and leave our “comfort zones.” There were no cell phones, internet or TV and while our accommodations were relatively sparse, they were satisfactory. This was a far cry from the way we usually travelled, and yet…it was one of the most exhilarating trips I’ve ever taken as we were living in the experience, absorbed by the journey… as an expedition, completely focused on the experience and unencumbered by distractions. The trip was one of personal transformation in which new perspectives on life and interests were born and still linger not just as memories but as building blocks for what might lie ahead.
Jesus’ time in the desert somehow relates to our journey as travelers, not just tourists. He leaves his comfort zone to prepare himself for what would was to come, while totally immersed and resisting anything that get in the way of his quest. So, as we begin Lent this Wednesday and follow Jesus into the desert, we are reminded that the purpose of our existence is to walk with Jesus on his journey and live in his experience and know the presence of God in our lives. There is a seed of desire in each of us, a fundamental motivation, a basic longing for the fulfillment of that purpose. Augustine tells us that ‘Thou has made us for thyself and our hearts are restless until they rest in Thee.’ Accordingly, we are not only born with God at our center, but we are born with a heart full desire of for God. This yearning is our fundamental motive force; it is the human spirit. It is the energy behind everything we seek and aspire to. And if indeed we are in intimate union with God in the center, then the soul’s desire is God’s desire. The soul’s love for God is God’s love for the soul. (Gerald May, Dark Night of the Soul)
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