First Sunday of Lent

Transcription

1 First Sunday of Lent The passage of Jesus in the wilderness has always fascinated me and caused me to ask some very deep questions about Jesus and his self-understanding. From these reflections, I have then been lead to ask deep questions about by own existence. What I have just described to you is the practice of Christian reflection which is something different than mediation. With reflection we seek to focus clearly our attention on some particular aspect of the divine expression in this world or a particular teaching or event from scripture. We then apply the insights from this particular exercise in a disciplined way to the spiritual. Let us say I decide that my temper is getting me into a lot of trouble. Indeed, my temper is hurting those with whom I live and work. I decide to do something about it. Therefore, every morning I reflect on aspects of the life of Christ where he teaches the meaning of love and turning the other cheek. Reflection is a well-defined spiritual exercise, and it must have a clear intentional focus. For example, for Lent I may decide to focus on the passion of Christ. Or, I may use some guides that give me a short reflection for the day. But, in the gospel of Jesus in the wilderness we encounter something different. We see Jesus engage in the practice of reflection. The practice of reflection is as absolutely essential to comprehending the mystery of God. But, what do we reflect on? We reflect on our concrete existence. However, it is not just our existence, but it is our existence as it relates to a power of transcendence outside of us. This power outside of ourselves is love as it comes to us in the encounter with the other. We become attached to this power because we have previously experienced the sacred within ourselves. The word dialogue comes from two Greek words dios and logos which is the sharing of meaning. This sharing of meaning happens to the extent that we are engaged in a very profound dialogue. Let me use the example of getting a massage. There are various types of massages which can be classified from a light to deep message. In Christian reflection it is like a deep massage. There is reflection and then there is the second level of reflection.

2 For example, let us say that I begin to reflect upon the issue of the emerging religious warfare in the world today. I start by asking myself usually as series of unconscious questions such as what is wrong? What is going on? Is there a solution? This is the surface level of reflection? If I stay in the surface level of reflection I will develop a surface spiritual response like man is evil. There are sinners. There are good guys and bad guys so let s protect ourselves. However, I may opt to go to the deeper level of reflection. It is here where I admit that life is beyond me, and I am losing hope. It is just not supposed to be this way. Why does evil triumph? Why can we not clearly see and hear the voice of God. Why is there a Christian God, a Jewish God a Muslim God? What really happens in this second level of reflection is that I encounter the problem of absence of hope. I am talking here about the absence of the feeling of God s divine love. It is here that I become perplexed and accept the full reality of evil. Then I go to a deeper level of reflection. I ask how should I respond to evil in the light of the biblical message? How clear is the message of the gospel on the question of evil in the modern world? Finally, I ask not just what the biblical response to evil is but what is my response to evil and it is here that I come to the evil that exists within me. I have come to the gospel of Jesus in the wilderness. It is the evil of which I am a part. I am a concrete man, and I must have a concrete response which can be justified based on biblical revelation. It is this third level of reflection where I decide that I must give testimony. I cannot just observe the world I must give testimony which is based on my particular mission as it comes from the Father. It is the pondering level. Any rational person cannot help pondering because we are driven to the task by our feelings. We can only have two types of feeling. There are feelings of acceptance and impedance towards the world. Have you ever noticed that you just woke up angry at the world and you are feeling the emotions of impedance? Then there are other days where everything seems to go well. It is the feeling levels of soul that drive us to ponder. Modern day science of the brain and philosophy is teaching us that we are not really all that rational. Our knowledge of self and the world is driven by our feelings. For example, at work we

3 quantify, plan, put in controls, write procedures, attempt to forecast the world, but we really manage from our guts i.e. from our feelings. When the feelings become intense then we want to ponder. But, there is a problem with human pondering because when we begin to ponder we will always come up against the issue of evil and the demonic within us. The pondering, as a result of our fallen nature, leads to brooding. Allow me to give an example. You have just taken a new job with a prestigious firm. You are excited and you believe that you have the skills that can make a major contribution. You are on the job awhile and begin to feel conflict with the COO. In point of fact, you just do not like his style and the way he handles people. You begin to question whether he really knows what he is doing. Then you fly up to the corporate office to present your business develop plan. You have a one to one meeting with the COO Slowly and methodically he begins to tear your plan apart. He tells you that unless you listen to him you will not be successful in your new position. You are made to feel incompetent by someone for whom you have no respect. You return to your hotel room and your emotions of impedance take over, namely fear and anger. Then the feelings erupt and you begin to ponder. Is it me? How did I get in this position? You question yourself. Then you have two choices you can ponder towards a deeper spiritual path is. or you stay on the surface level of feelings and broood. In this wilderness there is no sacred dialogue rather you begin to discover the demonic voices of manipulation. You know that you are in the wilderness when, what I call the committee, begins in your head. This committee does not believe that there is a spiritual solution. The committee tells you that you must take control and manipulate the situation. The committee stops you from going to the deepest level of pondering where you hear the sacred dialogue. It is at this level where you hear the voice of let go and let God. Jesus because he also has a human nature must ponder. Since he is human, he must discover over time the divine spirit within. It is at the baptism with John that the Spirit appears. Scripture tells us Jesus is coming into a full consciousness of his divinity, but in his pondering he is also tempted to listen to the demonic voices of the wilderness.

4 We see the nature of this wilderness more clearly in the gospel of Luke 1) If you are God s son order this stone to turn into bread. The temptation here is that there is no problem that cannot be solved by means of a hard material approach. The world has no inner spirit of love. The world is as it is; it must be manipulated. Man s salvation is all about technique. 2) I will give you all power and wealth. The committee tells us that without wealth and power we have not arrived. It is wealth that gives us a sense of immortality. 3) Throw yourself done from. You must be a miracle worker. For example, our whole business structure is in danger because we have a religious belief in the fact that there must be a miracle working CEO, sales manager etc. Jesus fights the temptation of the wilderness. He does not let the demonic feelings take. Jesus must go to the deepest level of pondering and engage in the voice sound of the sacred dialogue Let go and let God.

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