The Wilderness Way, Part 4

The Wilderness Way, Part 4

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.[1]

The wilderness way, more than anything else, is about transformation – our transformation as opposed to the transformation of circumstances or someone else. The only thing worse than going through a challenging period in our lives is to come out of it the same as we were before entering. I take that back. It worse is to come out of the wilderness having lost something that was important to us and spending our days bitterly trying to relive a past reality instead of embracing a new one. The saying “Never waste a good crisis,” is often attributed to Winston Churchill. We suffer because something is wrong physically, emotionally, or spiritually. If we only endure the suffering until it abates, we do nothing to address the cause of the suffering and it will return – often with a vengeance. What is needed is transformation, a letting go of the old and allowing the new to emerge. No matter how distasteful the new reality may have seemed earlier in our lives. We cannot change the circumstances of our past, but we can change how those circumstances affect us today. It is not a matter of lying to ourselves about what has changed but becoming consciously aware of the possibilities in our present circumstance and trusting that all things work together for good.[2]

Jesus did not come out of his 40 days in the wilderness unchanged. His post-wilderness life was completely different. Although little is written about his pre-baptism days, he presumably followed in his father’s profession as a craftsman, as most young men of that era and area did. Following his wilderness experience, Jesus dedicated the rest of his life to modeling what it means to be a child of God. Our path, after a wilderness experience, is supposed to be different and tailored to better utilize our specific gifts and circumstances. If we allow the experience to change us, we will display more of the image of God from which we were created.

Jesus went through another wilderness experience that is recorded in the gospels – his crucifixion and resurrection. And he did not return after his crucifixion unchanged, either. It is easy to overlook the recorded incidents of his closest friends failing to recognize him, or how he could walk through locked doors or seeming travel through time and space in ways impossible for mortal beings. He was unrecognizable until he spoke their names or acted in a way that specifically recalled something he had done or said for them before his crucifixion. His essence did not change, but his familiar expression of that essence did. And so it should be for us as we exit a wilderness experience – that we would come out changed for the better in one or more significant ways. Otherwise, we have simply wasted a good crisis.

As I write this, it is the first week of Lent, a season which is an invitation to transformation. An invitation to intentionally take the first step onto the wilderness way of following Jesus. One traditional rite of Lent is to give something up – to make an intentional sacrifice of something meaningful to us in order to refocus on what is truly meaningful in our life. When we successfully go through the 40 days of Lent without something that was a regular part of our pre-Lent days, we open space for something new to enter. Newness accompanies transformation. If, in our post-Lent days, we simply return to the way we lived in our pre-Lent days, whatever sacrifices we made were for naught, and we wasted a good crisis.

The practice of giving up something for Lent is one way to invite a transformation in ourselves by upsetting our status quo long enough for something new to enter and take hold. It provides new opportunities for God’s goodness and care to manifest in different ways. It is a way to cede some of the control we think we have over the life we think we are living as we consciously surrender more of our life-experience to God. Ultimately it is about weaning the ego – our false sense of being separate from others – away from its natural inclination towards distinguishing itself as superior to or dominant over others. Yes, we are special in unique ways, but so is everyone else. What is needed for spiritual maturation is to allow our unique expression to be woven into a larger tapestry where we no longer stand out as individuals but fit in as unique and important and inseparable parts of the universal body of Christ. Otherwise, we will remain small, isolated, and unnecessarily limited in how God can work through us. And the wilderness way may be the only path out.

This is the 22^nd in a series titled Crucifying Christianity, Resurrecting the Way.Life Notes are my explorations into mysteries that interest me. They are not objective truths but invitations for readers to explore, too. Engage with me or explore contemplative spiritual direction at ghildenbrand@outlook.com.

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[1] Matthew 4:1

[2] Romans 8:28