On Sundays, Night Prayer takes its lead from some element from the day's liturgy. Tonight we return to the gospel for this First Sunday of Lent, the account of Jesus being tempted three times by the devil.
In our familiarity familiar with the story of the temptations we might miss the timeline here. Matthew's gospel jumps from Jesus' childhood to his being baptized by John in the Jordan - and then to his 40 day retreat in the wilderness - after which the temptations occur. In our prayer tonight we'll reflect on what might have been Jesus' experience in those "forty days and forty nights in the desert.
This image, Christ in the Wilderness, the work of the talented iconographer Kelly Latimore, will be helpful in our meditation...
Forty days and forty nights
- nearly six weeks, Lord!
A month and a half in the wilderness:
scorching heat in the noonday sun,*
frigid cold 'neath the starry skies...
Endless days and longer nights,
alone in the dense and deafening silence,
hungry for food and companionship...
Searching for signs of what lie ahead,
praying for answers, wisdom and strength,
- and hoping your prayer would be heard...
What tempted you out in the desert, Lord,
before the evil one showed his face?
Were you tempted to curse what brought you there
- who left you there in the wilderness?
Were you tempted to wonder why? why you?
why this? why here? why now?
Were you tempted to flee, to head back home,
to the city, to comforts fine and familiar?
Were you tempted to give up hope and faith
that somehow, one day, all would be well?
Well, no matter how many temptations you faced,
no matter how lonely the time became;
no matter how strong your hunger and thirst,
no matter how pointless it all may have seemed;
no matter how close you came to succumbing
to ease, to self and false promises:
you trusted beyond what your eyes could see,
you surrendered yourself to the Spirit's lead;
you waited through pain, with patient endurance,
to see how your Father would answer your prayer,
to see how your trust would carry you through
to that place of peace where all shall be well,
where all manner of things shall be well...
My Lenten desert, like yours, O Lord,
is 40 days and 40 nights;
be with me through this season of grace
with your power, your grace and your mercy...
Protect me, Lord, while I'm awake
and watch over me while I sleep
that awake, I might keep watch with you
and asleep rest in your peace...
Amen.
To the Desert Follow Me by Sarah Hart
(If a video doesn't appear below, click here!)
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please THINK before you write
and PRAY before you think!