Interestingly, after some years of observing Lent and focusing on self-denial, or sacrifice, I have been seeing Lent this year more as a path to walk on.
A path on a desert, but still it lead me somewhere. And to someone.
Certainly, not without a reason, the saints of the early Christianity were called Fathers and Mothers of the Desert. Their desert was an actual desert. The real desert was more than a inner metaphor, but changed their lives.
And surely enough I don't claim to walk on the same path they have trodden on. No prerogatives claimed here. ;)
And interestingly again, the reading for today (which I realized again, I've made another mistake, and I'm now two days late...) also talks about the Twelve apostles being commissioned to go to bring healing and freedom. Another kind of journey but also one very worthy to take. It is Luke 9: 1 - 9 (The Message):
Jesus now called the Twelve and gave them authority and power to deal with all the demons and cure diseases. He commissioned them to preach the news of God’s kingdom and heal the sick. He said, “Don’t load yourselves up with equipment. Keep it simple; you are the equipment. And no luxury inns—get a modest place and be content there until you leave. If you’re not welcomed, leave town. Don’t make a scene. Shrug your shoulders and move on.”
Commissioned, they left. They traveled from town to town telling the latest news of God, the Message, and curing people everywhere they went.
Herod, the ruler, heard of these goings on and didn’t know what to think. There were people saying John had come back from the dead, others that Elijah had appeared, still others that some prophet of long ago had shown up. Herod said, “But I killed John—took off his head. So who is this that I keep hearing about?” Curious, he looked for a chance to see him in action.
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