Many of us enjoy wild places and letting go to the wind and the rain gives us a sense of liberation. Lent begins with the story of Jesus in the wilderness of the desert. At first it might look a bit like a God-forsaken place but we are reminded in the Gospel that Jesus was led by the Spirit into this place. So what is going on? As we sit and wait for a sound, a stirring, maybe a voice, we hear the question. It is essentially the Why question. Why is he taking on a life of service for the common good? Why is he opening himself to ridicule and very hard knocks for the evolution of creation? Why is he leaving the security of Nazareth to tell the news of God’s love and to set the captives free?  Surely he grasps the perks of a world of power, prestige and wealth? As the focus turns to Jesus and as we await his response to the temptation to maintain the old way, we become aware of our own choices. The wilderness is not simply sand and silence; it is more deeply, pools of fresh water asking us to drink from the Source and to take the water to the mainland.

Everyone needs Lent. In the desert Jesus is revealed in his choices. Like all of us he had attractive options. In this place of stillness, of hearing, free from distractions, he encountered his own identity and the implications of his decision to give his life for the life of the world. That’s what the wilderness does for us; it reveals who we are and our potential to partner with God and with others, for the great communion in our common home.

On Ash Wednesday it looks like desolation but as the journey of Lent unfolds, the wilderness takes us to the meeting place for a life altering experience. We do not live on bread alone and the Lenten pause invites us to enter the empty space and in this wider vision to lift up the people who are left behind in the sand.

The wilderness is a contemplative breeze. It clarifies our choices and tests our identity. In the closeness of the Presence we are filled with the great hunger of  human longing and our heartbeat stills with wonder.

What makes the desert beautiful, said the Little Prince, is that somewhere it hides a well.   Antoine de Saint-Exupery