You have just been dumped. You have been abandoned by your spouse, betrayed by a friend, rejected by someone you loved and hoped would love you. Now you have to put your life back together. You have to “move on.” Whichever road you take passes through the desert with Jesus.

The first day at a new school, the first day at a new job. Do I belong here? Is this going to be a good fit? Am I up to this challenge? Will the other kids like me? Can I play with these kids? The first day of any new adventure begins in the desert with Jesus.

Worry is part of every parent’s job description. Are we up to the job of raising another human being? How can we raise a kid when we’re not quite sure that we’re adults yet? Are we doing right by our kids? Where do we find the strength and patience to keep loving despite the “attitude,” to keep reaching out in the face of the rolling eyes, to continue to wait up no matter how late the hour? Whether we realize it or not, to love a child is to dwell in the desert with Christ.

Every important decision we make in our lives takes place in the desert with Jesus; every milestone, every first experience, begins in the wilderness with Christ. This First Sunday of Lent calls us into the desert of our hearts, the wilderness within us where the Spirit dwells. We should not fear the desert, but approach the deserts of our lives with hope and openness: The desert of our hearts is the silent place where God speaks to us of hope and encouragement; it is the quiet wood where we clear our heads to realize what is right and good; it is the                all-embracing vista that opens our eyes to realize the path we should take if we are to become the people of justice and righteousness we seek to become. The same Spirit that led Jesus into the desert accompanies us in our desert experiences of fear, despair, confusion and grief This Lent, the Spirit calls our souls into the desert in order to discern what God calls us to make of the time we have been given, to re-centre our lives with new hope and renewed vision as we continue our journey to the Easter promise.

Lent is the time to put down all that distracts us from becoming the people of God we are called to be. These days before Easter’s dawning are a time for deciding what we want our lives to be, what values we want to centre our lives upon and are truly important to us. It’s time for putting down the things that are killing us and transform our lives in the life and love of God.