Lenten Writing Prompt #2
'Wilderness' is a metaphor that is used to describe the 40 days of Lent, recalling the 40 days that Jesus wandered in the wilderness. When you are in a wilderness, It is a time of contemplation, uncertainty, fear, and even doubt. It usually described as a lonely, bare, perhaps a little scary place. What metaphor best describes your wilderness? The desert? The ocean? An icy landscape? A planet? Something else? Write about what this place looks and feels like to you, whether during Lent, or during a difficult time. Today, we are naming our wilderness.
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ReplyDeleteI love water. Rivers, lakes, seas, oceans. Pools, hot tubs, bath tubs, showers. If water wasn't such a rare commodity, my showers would be embarrassingly lengthy.
ReplyDeleteI particularly love the Caribbean Sea. My memories of it are idyllic: warm, clear, calm. I love other bodies of water, too: the Pacific and Indian oceans. In my mind, however, they are more volatile, dark, dangerous, powerful. Their waters have invaded, raided, swallowed up. They are very, very deep.
The latter is where I am, paddling a small, creaky, leaking boat by myself in the moonless night trying not to getting dragged into the eddy. Though it is frightening and lonely, I am thankful that at least I have a boat and an oar.
You know the both the darkness and the light and you see them together which is a powerful thing - in the midst of your frightening moment you are thankful.... powerful
DeleteWilderness
ReplyDeleteOne of the women in my life has cancer.
Her progress is good
but uncertain.
We have learned to give thanks for today,
enjoy each other in the moment,
and hope for a good tomorrow.
But I admit,
I don’t know where this is going.
Another woman in my life had a stroke.
She has learned to walk again, sort of.
She can now talk again, to some degree.
She can sort of feed herself, kind of.
And she seems to be improving.
But I don’t know
what next week
or next month will bring.
I am happy that she is alive today
and I’ll let tomorrow come as it comes.
For awhile
I lived in the wilderness of “not knowing”
the disorientation of an unknown future,
the helplessness of trying to control life and death,
and the confusion of “making up scenarios”.
I still don’t know where this is going.
The future is still unknown.
And I’ve never controlled life and death.
To be honest and to admit these things,
is to set up a tent
and be at peace with the wilderness as ‘home’,
for now.
Shalom
Very nice. I like it. One of my models was to open a tea pavilion where others could meditate on their own wildernesses.
DeleteWilderness
ReplyDeleteJesus went out into the desert – the wilderness – to face hunger and thirst, loneliness and temptation. There He wrestled with His demons just like I have to wrestle with mine. Although I don’t have to go into the wilderness to find them.
My demons follow me. Attach themselves to my ankles and provide temptation wherever I am. At home? The temptation is to be lazy. To read a book or play on facebook. To NOT do my work.
Visiting with my friend? The temptation is to gossip. To snipe. To belittle others for our amusement.
Out running errands? The temptation is to envy. To judge To hunger and thirst after what is not my own.
My wilderness is clearly not a physical place. It’s a place in my soul. The place where the meanness lives. The rudeness. The lack of love.
And there it is. The wilderness is the place where love is not. Because love feeds the hungry. Gives water to the thirsty. Comes to help fight the temptation. Without the love we are all hungry and mean. Gnawing on each other’s bones.
In the desert, angels came and ministered to Jesus. In the same way God sends angels to help me find my way home from the wilderness of not loving.
Friends who bring out the good in me. People I can help. Feed. Encourage. All pull me from my furious preoccupation with myself and give me the gift of focusing on them. Seeing them. Seeing Jesus.
This is so similar to my experience as well. I feel it is a gift to be able to really see the wilderness within oneself, and also know how to balance that wilderness with just the right amount of angels. Thanks for sharing this!
Delete"Gnawing on each other's bone" I know what you mean. You have a very organic way of writing. Thanks for that gift to us.
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ReplyDeleteHERE AM I, IN THE THICK OF IT
ReplyDeleteMy wilderness is within myself
and my immediate surroundings,
which contain elements of the pristine settings
I desire to escape to for restoration
of physical and mental balance.
The healing, vision and clarity I seek “away”,
is here as well as there, now as well as then.
I love retreats, alone or with herds,
but not solitary plunges in to places where
bears, cougars and other creatures
I can’t reason with or control
might see me as a danger or a meal.
On family camping/fishing trips, and picnics,
when I was a child, I found spots close
enough to be heard and rescued if necessary
but apart enough to not be disturbed as I read,
daydreamed, or just watched some native inhabitants
crawl, hop, burrow, and fly while I listened
to their chattering, buzzing, chirping, singing.
I’m thankful now for similar respites, even for moments,
at home or close by where wilderness has not been
obliterated by our smothering domestication.
Inside the wilderness of my mind ,
when the uncertainty and worries growl and hiss
there is also the refrain of “Bali Ha’I”
that my hopes and dreams are
blooming and shining
and calling “Come to me, come to me”
It takes pausing, slowing, looking
at the majestic mountains in the distance,
the endless patterned art in the sky,
glistening drops of rain on the bare trees
the rhythm of the waving evergreens,
paying attention that indeed,
the wilderness always finds me.
#2 WRITING FROM THE WILDERNESS
ReplyDeleteIt's funny how one day
I can feel so sure of things
and then
the very next day
find myself stuck right in the middle of
my wilderness
My wilderness looks like a Primeval forest
Undergrowth too thick to find a path
Filled with dark, untamed trees
that reach for me with long, crooked arms
I cannot even see the sky
So many things come at me
Everything seems so urgent
Seems so fast
I can hardly catch my breath
But, I insist on trying to move through it all
The more I try
The harder it becomes
Finally, I realize the problem
It's me
I stop
I breathe
I pray
I refocus...on God
and let God lead the way
A path opens
The wilderness disappears
I have Shalom once again
fHs
It's a great message to share, to let God lead the way. Thank you for that reminder! : )
ReplyDelete