Lessons From the Desert – Part 2

As I chronical my journey in the desert this Lent, our daughter and her family are literally in the desert. They are in Arizona on Spring Break. My daughter had never experienced the desert landscape and climate before. One of her first texts to me after they arrived described how comfortable the air was with no wind or moisture. “It’s just like nothingness,” were her exact words.

It’s in that silence and nothingness that I have learned a few more lessons I want to share with you.

First of all, I am finding that inviting Jesus to journey with me this Lent, instead of doing Lent on my own, has really been eye-opening. In the past I would look at this time leading up to Easter as a time for sacrifice and solemnity. It seemed like a lot of work. It was work figuring out what I was going to give up or what I was going to change to honor the sacrifice Jesus made for me. It was work to stick to my decisions on how I was going to spend these weeks. And it was disheartening when I would fail to keep up my resolutions. All of this work was done on my own.

This year, I envision doing this work of Lent with Jesus and it has made a big difference. I continually ask Him what it is I should be doing or changing, and how to stick to it. In the nothingness of the desert, I listen for the answers and I feel the help. I don’t feel discouraged and I don’t feel alone.

This week, what I have heard loud and clear in the nothingness of the desert from my companion, is the importance of staying in the moment. Another really, really important lesson for me this Lent.

We hear a lot about the benefits of mindfulness and the importance of living in the moment. We’ve heard it over and over, but how good are we at it? It takes such discipline.

The present moment is where we find God. Dwelling on the past only brings resentment and regret. Dwelling on the future only brings worry and anxiety. In his classic book, The Screwtape Letters, C.S. Lewis points out that one of the most powerful weapons of the devil is to keep humans focused on the past or the future and away from the present moment. It’s the most powerful way to keep them from God. In the book, Uncle Screwtape, a senior devil, is mentoring his nephew Wormwood, a junior tempter, on how to be a demon and how to win souls for evil. Keeping our minds out of the present is one of the most important lessons he wants his nephew to learn.

Because in the present moment is where we know God’s presence most purely.

I can’t tell you how many times I heard the words “stay in the moment” this past week. It echoed in my head and brought me relief from anxiety and a calmness to my spirit. Repeating those words brought everything back into focus and left me with such a feeling of well-being.

So don’t go it alone, invite Jesus into the nothingness of your Lenten journey. It’s sure to be something.

Stay in the moment,
Joan