ADVENT WEEK TWO
December 6, 2020
Embrace the Wilderness
Mark 1:1-8
… the voice of one crying out in the wilderness: “Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight,” Mark 1:3
What a year. The verse above speaks to me right now, even more than in times past, because I have found myself crying out a lot lately. We are surrounded by racial brutality, a world heath crisis, political divisiveness, economic injustice, and social isolation. This year has certainly felt like a wilderness to me.
The author of Mark’s gospel opens by echoing Isaiah 40:3 and tapping an experience residing deep in the psyche of the hearers—the wilderness. Mark’s proclamation would have instantly called to memory the narrative when the Israelites were led out of slavery in Egypt, by way of the wilderness, toward a promised land. As well, there was Moses who headed to the wilderness to run away from his past: there was also Hagar who negotiated with God in the wilderness to ensure the survival of her son.
So how does the wilderness experience seem to operate within most of these biblical tales? The wilderness elicits soul-searching. The wilderness requires acute focus. The wilderness clarifies mission and identity. As well, in each instance, the wilderness operates as a space of transition when a people or a character transform from an “old” self into a “new” self.
Rather than cursing this wilderness we all find ourselves in, what if we embrace it as an opportunity to engage in deep and comprehensive soul-searching and become clearer and more intentional about our focus, mission, and sense of identity? I am certain such a discipline can help us draw to the surface destructive beliefs and self-defeating behaviors that hinder our transformation. Let us embrace this time in the wilderness and do the internal work to prepare the way of the Lord.
In the words of Rumi, “Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself.”
MaryAnn Morris
Dean of Students
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