Have you looked outside this week? Technically, we are still in the winter season, but evidence of the coming spring is apparent in the tiny pops of color that are dotting the landscape. Even as the snow fell last week, new buds and blossoms continued to make their way into our days. Most vibrant in my neighborhood is the cheerful yellow of daffodils. You only have to look one block south of our church to be dazzled by their brilliance in the sunlight.

Today being three days into Lent, I’m drawn into the narrative of Jesus in the wilderness. We will talk about this account of Jesus’ temptations on Sunday as we visit Matthew 4. More than the focus on temptations, though, today the physical terrain calls to me. We have just left Jesus’ baptism. He has been nourished by the Holy Spirit in the Jordan waters; life is cultivated through the dazzling breath of God. The very air is fed with excitement and brilliance. Then, without time to glance around the neighborhood for any vibrancy, Jesus moves into inhospitable territory where pops of color are missing and cheerfulness fades. Against a backdrop of barren desert, the rough country of Jesus’ journey fills my thoughts with scorched struggles and parched strength. I don’t immediately feel dazzled by color in this story.
 
During the forty days of Lent, I’m hoping to reconnect with my Lord and Savior in simplistic ways that bring me into a focused joy and deeply personal replenishment. With days of multi-tasking pulling me into chaos, I’m working hard to re-order and rally. I need encouragement; I need uncomplicated! I want beauty and radiance! In the desert of my days, where is the hope I always expect? Where is the spring? Where is the color?!
 
Turning to the prophet Isaiah, I found the brilliance I was lacking. “I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.” (Isaiah 43:19) There it is! The hope, the spring, the color! Just a few verses earlier, the prophet has mentioned the Israelites’ deliverance from Egypt, and here he is promising deliverance from their Babylonian captivity. For me, as I look through the lens of the Resurrection, I hear the promise of God that didn’t stop with the Israelites. God’s promise of deliverance continues. I realize that this “new thing” God is about to do is more glorious than the cheerful yellow of daffodils, more dazzling than the brilliance of sunshine, and more hopeful than buds and blossoms on a snowy day.
 
Through scripture, through prayer, through fasting, this “new thing” will be like a path opening in the wilderness, like rivers running through the desert. How can I not perceive it? God will make a way!
 
Lenten blessings,
Pastor Beth
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​Beep, swish, jingle, click.
Chime, rattle, ring.
Swoosh, clang, jangle, tick.
Buzz, clatter, ding.
 
The sounds of my life are reminiscent of a Dr. Seuss rhyming book. Swish, a text message draws my attention. Beep, someone is waiting on the second phone line while I attend to the first. Ding, a new email beckons me to answer. Clang, my calendar reminds me of an appointment. Buzz, the second line left a voice mail instead of waiting. When did my days become a cacophony of ring tones?
 
In the silence of my morning devotion, I am diverted by a familiar chirp. Oh, that’s why they call it Twitter. These are the incessant squeaks of a culture that needs to sing out on every topic. The tweets bring to mind the peeping of a songbird in the stillness of a peaceful morning. The bird is oblivious to my need for stillness just as the electronic noise imposes on my concentration. The difference, in my worship space, is that one warbles clear joy while the other resonates muddled distraction.
 
The solution, of course, is to turn it off. Silence the phone as I calm my mind. Shush the interruptions as I commit to the quiet. Step away from the computer, iPad, smart watch, radio, and TV. Move my mind away from the dependence of alerts and alarms long enough to fully immerse myself in scripture. For a time each day, surrender my addiction to worldly information so that my soul is fed and my heart is informed by the still small voice of God.
 
Certainly the world teaches a different way, but Romans 12:2 brings me back closer to my best. “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God – what is good and acceptable and perfect.” That’s a two-part plan, and declining the world’s way is only part one. This Lent, I want to be secure in pursuing that second part to be transformed by the renewing of my mind. I think that’s the part that can only be done when God and I are together in the stillness of prayer, study and fasting.
 
Maybe today I will go outside and listen to that bird. I’ll be sure to take along my Bible… and maybe a good Dr. Seuss book.
 
May your day be blessed as you pursue what is good, acceptable and perfect.
 
Grace and peace,
Pastor Beth