Reflection:
The Invitation of Wilderness
Lent is a time of reflecting on wilderness journeys, as symbolised by Jesus' 40 days of praying and fasting in the wilderness, and by the Israelites’ journey from captivity in Egypt to the freedom of the wilderness. In this reflection we explore times of wilderness in our own lives and spiritual journeys.
Opening music:
Listen to the following as an opening prayer.
Lyrics:
As a deer longs for flowing streams,
So my soul longs for you.
Readings:
Read the following passages through twice or three times, and listen for any word or phrase that seems to be inviting you to linger with it.
Reading 1: Psalm 42 (from Psalms for Praying by Nan Merrill)
As a deer longs for flowing streams, so longs my soul for You, O Beloved.
My soul thirsts for the Beloved, for the Living Water.
When may I come and behold Your face?…
Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me?
My hope is in the Beloved, my strength and my joy,
O my soul, open the door to Love!…
Deep calls to deep at the thunder of your waterfalls;
All your waves and your billows have washed over me.
By day you lead me in steadfast love;
At night your song is with me, prayer from the Heart of my heart.
Reading 2: Lost, by David Wagoner
Stand still. The trees ahead and bushes beside you
Are not lost. Wherever you are is called Here,
And you must treat it as a powerful stranger,
Must ask permission to know it and be known.
The forest breathes. Listen. It answers,
I have made this place around you.
If you leave it, you may come back…
No two trees are the same to Raven.
No two branches are the same to Wren.
If what a tree or a bush does is lost on you,
You are surely lost.
Stand still. The forest knows
Where you are. You must let it find you
Quiet Prayer:
Spend some time in quiet prayer, gently letting go of any thoughts that enter your mind, and surrendering yourself into the spaciousness of the Presence who is with us always.
End the time of quiet prayer by listening to the following song:
Lyrics:
How much room is there inside of us for what we don’t already know,
Do we have the courage to venture beyond the safety of the known,
Into the wisdom of uncertainty where insight is born,
Into the wisdom of uncertainty humility is born.
How much room is there inside of us for what we don’t already know,
Do we have the courage to venture beyond the safety of the known,
Into the wisdom of uncertainty where insight is born,
Into the wisdom of uncertainty creation takes form.
For Further Reflection:
Below are quotes from the talk for you to take this theme further.
Richard Rohr: “In the book of Exodus, Egypt is the place of slavery, and the Promised Land is the place of freedom. The journey from Egypt to the Promised Land…is a saga which symbolizes our own struggle towards ever greater inner freedom, empowered by grace. The story of Israel symbolically describes the experience of our own liberation by God—and toward a universal love.” … “We have to be willing to experience the Exodus in our own lives and enter into our own desert wanderings. We have to let God liberate us from captivity to freedom, from Egypt to Canaan, not fully knowing how to cross the desert between the two.”
David Whyte: “How do you know that you’re on your path? Because it disappears, that’s how you know. How do you know that you’re really doing something radical? Because you can’t see where you are going. Everything you have lent on for your identity has gone. And so you are going to enter the black contemplative splendours of self-doubt.”
Liza Rankow: “the spiritual evolution necessary to move from a consciousness of bondage to a consciousness of liberation takes time. The people who emerged from the wilderness were not the ones who entered it. … Wilderness times are painful and difficult, and most of us want to get out of them as quickly as we can. Yet to shortchange the process is to pry open a cocoon prematurely because we want the butterfly. … The question is not what we need in order to get out of this wilderness, but rather, what do we need to inhabit the wilderness—for as long as it takes to complete our transition, our metamorphosis. You see, the wilderness is a season not a location. And like the healing of wounds, or the becoming of a butterfly, the wilderness journey is a process, not an event.”
Liza Rankow: “Wildernesses are crucibles where we become the people who can live into new lands of promise and liberation.”
Matthew 28:20 "Surely I am with you always"
Ending prayer:
My Lord God,
I have no idea where I am going.
I do not see the road ahead of me.
I cannot know for certain where it will end...
But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you...
And I know that if I do this, you will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it.
Therefore will I trust you always though I may seem to be lost in the shadow of death.
I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.
Amen
by Thomas Merton
Ending music:
Lyrics:
O Spirit guide me now,
O Spirit guide me now,
O Spirit guide me now,
In your way guide me.
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Sharon's book that was previously called "Contemplative Living" has been republished by AnamChara Books under the title "Deeper: Finding the Depth Dimension Beneath the Surface of Life". The Kindle version is available from Amazon, and the hard copy version can be ordered from loot.co.za or Takealot, or from your local bookshop through Ingram Distribution.