missing blogs

My internet was down for a few days, which put a damper on my Lenten postings. So, I'll post three times today.

I got an email from a friend yesterday. She said that she hates the wilderness...that wandering in the wilderness feeling--like Moses and the Chosen people, like John the Baptist, like Jesus, we all have wilderness periods. For me, the Wilderness times come when I am filled with uncertainty...when the path before me is unclear. The Wilderness brings doubt, anxiety, and frustration. I cannot see that there are always green fields and gurgling brooks on the other side.

But we also know, thanks to John the Baptist, it is in the wilderness that we may hear most clearly.

"The voice of one crying out in the wilderness:

‘Prepare the way of the Lord,

make his paths straight,’”"

The Wilderness is where we are asked to prepare...to get ready for the next leg of our journey, to prepare our hearts and our minds for what lies ahead. The Wilderness is necessary because it is there, in the desolate quiet, that we might hear most clearly.

I'm trying to trust that.