As part of my daily writing practice for Lent, I decided it was finally time to tackle Sunday's sermon! It's been ruminating in my mind for weeks, but there's something a little intimidating about sitting down to capture it on a blank page. Thus, I've begun a habit of procrastination. So here's my attempt to counteract that through the discipline of regular writing and posting, for accountability's sake. So here's a sample of my work in progress:
Have you been to the wilderness? I don’t mean in a literal sense, although
perhaps you’ve walked through a forest or spent some time in the desert and
felt just a little smaller because of the vastness surrounding you. The wilderness I’m speaking of is of the
metaphorical variety…those moments in your journey where you’ve just felt lost
and unsure of your next step. The
wilderness is barren, like a blank page awaiting words. It is silent, quiet enough to hear your inner
turmoil and feel your beating heart.
There are all manners of wild beasts, but the scariest of all is your
own doubt and the nagging fear that you will never escape into the Promised
Land. The temptations are many…for food
and water, for power, for fame, for something, anything, to anesthetize the
worry and the constant second-guessing, the ever-present self-doubts. The wilderness finds us alone and lonely,
regardless of the crowds that surround us; they may be, in fact, our biggest
struggle. This arid desert provokes our
fight to find ourselves and not lose our essence in the demands to conform and
the desires to be accepted. It is a time
of testing and a period of being confronted with our shameful weaknesses, and
yet, if we persevere, it is a journey that will ultimately define our strength.
Where have been your wilderness places?
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