Be With Me, Lord: a Reflection for the First Sunday of Lent
by Sister Theresa Spinler
The readings for the first Sunday of Lent are rich with meaning. Wilderness and desert are prominent words as we prepare for our own forty days in the desert. We can look at the literal meaning of desert, which means an arid place. About one fifth of our planet is considered desert but that may increase because of climate change. The arid ground appears lifeless, but with rainfall it comes to life.
I have experienced two of these deserts. One in Arizona which has much beauty with a variety of plant life, even though it is extremely hot and sandy. The Atacama desert in Northern Chile varies depending on one’s location. The part I experienced was only a hot, flat, sandy area with the sandy Andes foothills in the background. One specific area was called Desierto de Luna (the Desert of the Moon) where salt and sand had mixed together and hardened. As one walked on it, it cracked with dryness. But the silence of the desert was so profound that it seemed like one could hear the silence. So awesome! The Judean desert where Jesus was tempted is made up of cliffs, rocks, caves, living creatures, and plants. Deserts are all different, but they all are extremely hot in the daytime and very cold at night, with little or no rainfall, and are often very silent.
Deserts can refer to more than arid ground. In the Monastery, we speak of taking a ‘desert day’, a spiritual desert, a day of inner reflection, solitude, silence, and withdrawal from people and activity, in order to encounter God and renew your relationship between God and self. It can allow a deepened, renewed inner life.
When Jesus was praying at his Baptism in the Rover Jordan, the Holy Spirit came upon him. He listened, heard the Spirit, and followed the voice into the desert. It may not have been his choice, but he remained for forty days, a reflection of the Israelites led through their own desert by Moses for forty years. Forty is used many times in the Scritpures. There does not seem to be any great significance in the number except referring to a time apart for testing, preparation, and transformation.
And that is what the next forty days will be for us. We know that Jesus could not have been in the desert for forty days without eating or drinking, for it is humanly impossible to survive that length of time without food and water. But it was a time to prepare for his public ministry. So too, we need that quiet and set apart time daily to be transformed and deepen our relationship with God. And when one is tired and hungry as Jesus was, temptations are more difficult to resist. The temptations of Jesus were related to riches and power, which still tempt us today and can easily lead to one’s downfall.
In the first reading from Deuteronomy, we read that Moses as led the people out of Egypt and into the desert. They did so with much complaining and Moses would call out to God as the psalm verse says, “Be with me Lord to deal with these troubles”. Eventually they were led into a land flowing with milk and honey, but they had multiple temptations on the way to that abundant land.
So as we prepare to enter the Lenten season for forty days, we will probably be calling out frequently to God, “Be with me Lord for I am in trouble”. Our desert today is not the arid, hot, sandy place, but the desert of loneliness, fear, war, pain, hunger, possessions, sickness, infirmity, and so on. But whatever our experience of the desert may be in our daily lives and in our next forty days, we must call out as the psalmist does, asking for help so that we will come into full bloom at Easter.
