A Poem for the Lenten Season

Through the Wilderness

            As a pastor something I have heard over the years from people going through tough times is, “Why is this happening to me?  Where is God in all this?”  I listen to their story and then gently ask them, “Have you ever wondered why there is so much wilderness and exile in the Bible?  You see, the journey goes through the wilderness.”

          

Through the Wilderness

Why do you lead me through

the wilderness?

My map shows another way

no turns or bends

yet straight

to my contentment

Yet you say the hard way

is best for me

To strip away the weight

that has settled

around my all too

satisfied soul

You bid me to kneel and

remember that I

Am mere dust gathered

for a time and

then blown away

by the wind

Yet for this dust you died

on a distant hill

Your way was through

the wilderness

and you went there

for me when

I get lost

There is leaning in the

wilderness of Lent

That cannot be found on

the highway where

we go so fast

and fail to see

“Front dust you came and

to dust you shall return…”

But O how you love

the dust

 Jody/Lent 2017