Saturday, January 5, 2008

What is a wilderness spirituality?

What is lent?
Originating in the fourth century, Lent spans 40 weekdays, from Ash Wednesday, through Holy Week, concluding with the Saturday before Easter. (For those who can count, yes, this does total 46 days. Since Sundays celebrate the resurrection of Jesus, the six Sundays that occur during Lent are not counted as part of the 40 days of Lent.)

Lent began as the time of preparation for seekers exploring baptism at Easter. And since these new members were to be received into a living community of Faith, the entire community was called to share in the preparation. Today, Lent is used by the church as a time to prepare for Easter.

The number 40 is connected with many Biblical events, most especially the forty days Jesus spent in the wilderness. This was a time to prepare for ministry by facing the temptations that might have caused him to abandon his mission and calling. This Biblical story invites us into a wilderness spirituality. What might tempt us at to abandon our life mission? What do we need to abandon? What experiences do we need to add? While the wilderness is often a feared place, perhaps it is time to enter it as a growing place. The wilderness spirituality assignments grouped here are designed to facilitate such a journey.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I'm giving gratitude to Mr Pedro for all of his help in securing our loan for our new home here in Fruitland. You were organized & thorough & professional, as well as kind which made all of the difference in our interactions with you. We put our trust in you and you most definitely came through for us. Thank you for your patience as well as treating us as people rather than just home loan customers. You stand above the rest, I want to recommend anyone here looking for loan or investors to contact Mr Pedro and his staff because they are good people with gentle heart,Mr Pedro Email Contact : pedroloanss@gmail.com



Regards,
John Burley! Our hats off to you!!"