The season of Lent traditionally
begins with reading the story of Jesus entering the wilderness after his
baptism and facing three temptations. The
practices of Lent are designed to engage us in introspection of our own
failings and a recognition of our reliance on God’s Grace.
The wilderness imagery is helpful as
we begin this journey to the cross.
Recently I read a book by Scott Stillman titled, Wilderness The
Gateway to the Soul. Some of his
reflections as a wilderness trekker are instructive for our 2019 wilderness
walk.
Scott Stillman is a lot more prepared
for spending time in the remote wilderness of our country than was Jesus. He goes into these experiences equipped with
water and excellent food choices to give him the energy needed for such an
adventure. The gospel of Luke records
that Jesus ate nothing during the forty days in the remote region of what is
now Jordan.
The author of Wilderness
recounts one backpacking trip when his planning did not work out quite as well
as he envisioned. He was on a five-day
solo journey through Sycamore Canyon Wilderness in Arizona. The canyon was not providing the expected
sources of water. His four liters of
water went down to one and then less and less.
His story gives depth to Jesus’ experience. When you are hungry or thirsty the mind
focuses on these needs. As well it
should. These are life threatening issues.
The human body needs water and food to survive. It is no wonder that Jesus heard the lure of
twisting his mission in the world to that of self-centered miracle worker – command
the stone to provide for your physical needs.
Do anything to make the desperation go away.
Our Lenten Journey may not be fraught
with hunger and thirst. Most people only
give up one thing for their Lenten Fast.
The human body can subsist without chocolate or meat. We may be uncomfortable, but we are nowhere
near the crisis of decision brought on by no water, or no food. That means we need to engage our minds and
spirits this Lent to become aware of the pain and anguish brought on people for
whom this deprivation is a stark reality.
Scott Stillman found water in the
canyon walls as he slowly continued his trek.
Jesus rebuffed the temptation when he
said: One does not live by bread alone.
Can
we hear the cries of the families in Flint, Michigan who continue to be without
safe drinking water? Can we see that
people are starving in Venezuela while relief is withheld on the other side of
the border? Can we give more to Food
Pantries as part of our Lenten Discipline so that people in our county can eat
nutritious food?
The second Temptation connects with a
very human desire, prosperity. In the
midst of the Great Depression, people wanted relief from the destitution around
them. After the WWII there was a period
of “success”. The machinery of war was
transformed into the machinery of acquisition.
As a people, we bought a lot of things.
This
impulse continued in the decades to follow.
We are a consumerist society. We
look from our own “mountaintops” and see all the things we want. And we give celebrity status and deference to
those who acquire the most. And some of
us want to be one of those with the “most toys” because “those with the most
toys, win”.
As a backpacker in the wilderness,
Scott Stillman’s relationship with the environment and his experience of
ecstasy over the beauty of creation has had the opposite effect on him. For him, less is best because it allows him
to experience the abundance that is right before each of us. He writes about Dark Canyon Wilderness in
Utah:
Like
dancers in sequins, the cottonwoods dazzle and sparkle against an illuminated
backdrop of glowing red sandstone. Such
a glory to witness! What’s so
comforting, so reassuring, so gratifying, is the fact that this happens every
day, whether I’m here or not. The beauty
remains. Perfection exists! Unfathomable.
Unconditional. Long before we
ever existed, long after we are gone.
This place exists.
There are no roads, no motors, no scenic roped off
viewpoints, no paved walkways. No improvements. There’s only one thing to improve here. Our respect.
Our empathy. For the Earth. The very soil beneath our feet. This place we all come from, and will all
return to, as does everything that nourishes our bodies to survive.
Jesus responds to the Temptation of
power and riches with the words: It is written, ‘Worship the Lord your God,
and serve only him.’
Scott
Stillman does wilderness backpacking to appreciate the very essence of life on
this earth and the sacredness of that life.
On Ash Wednesday we are reminded: Dust
you are and to dust you will return.
The third Temptation Jesus endured was
an invitation to invulnerability – power in the extreme. “You can do no wrong”. “God is on your side, so you have absolute
license.” Sadly authoritarian figures
fall prey to this tempting idea. We see
this “protected absolutism” in homes, businesses and governments. We also see some spectacular falls with no
angels handy to help out!
Scott Stillman does not recount
anything that shows this hubris. However
his narrative introducing his walk into the wilderness of the desert between
Moab and Hanksville, Utah, does show us the healthy self-awareness we can find
in our own wilderness places. He writes:
It’s
a time for gratitude and healing, both spiritual and physical. And it’s a time to walk, simply walk, one
foot in front of the other, and breathe in deep blissful silence. It will take a few days for my busy mind to
slow its chatter, but it always does. So
long as I’m patient, trust the process, and submit completely to a power much
greater than myself.
Solo trips are where I remember who I am. Beneath this body, this face, this name. In the end, I know too well that these
details will fall away, and all that will remain is this pure silence, this
pure light. The same light I see in the
eyes of a lizard, the eyes of a child, and the rocks, the plants, the lakes,
the streams, the sun, the moon, the clouds, and the stars. As divided as we may seem, we’re in this
together. In the end there is no
separateness. No lines drawn between
you, me, rock and tree. All of this I
forget. Over and over I forget. Fortunately the desert is patient, reminding
me again each time about the beauty, the silence, the light, and the miracle of
all existence.
Many of us have had similar revelations. Perhaps in a church or monastery, high on a
mountaintop, or gazing into the eyes of a newborn baby. That experience when we stop thinking, even
if just for a moment, and suddenly know – absolutely know – some overwhelming
truth that we cannot put to words. But
these moments are fleeting, for as soon as we try to put them to words, label
them in some way, we lose grasp. We are
back to thinking again and the moment is lost.
The truth is enough. Just knowing
that it exists. So long as we don’t try
to turn it into something. Some thing,
which it is not.
Let’s go on a walk into Mystery.
Grace
and Peace
Rev.
Clara
Wilderness,
The Gateway to the Soul, Scott Stillman, Wild Soul Press, Boulder, CO, 2018.
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