16 March 2025 #pleaseleavetheyardlighton
Out here in the unfamiliar wilderness of Wyoming, the days are long but time is flying by. I passed by the guy who handed me a bulletin on my way out the Church door last week at the grocers and he nodded in recognition, so I was looking forward to a familiar face when I slid into the pew this past week. Alas, there were strangers surrounding me once again - the Bulletin Guy was awol. Even the priest and Deacon were people I’d never seen before. And everyone I sat around last week? Somewhere else, it seems.
Which means it’s just me and Jesus this Lent and I’m still getting used to the whole dependence and trust mantra in the big things and the small. My conversations with Jesus sound something like this: “I sure hope the people in the farmhouse covered in Tyvek still have their yard light on so I know where to make my turn and find my way home in the dark,” or “I have a lot going on right now and I’m handing it all over to you, so that I can fall asleep before the air compressor beneath my apartment begins its nightly refill.” Every day there’s a new adventure. I’m reminded of Abram from today’s first reading.
You see, Abram has set off for unfamiliar territory and had some pretty amazing adventures by the time we get to this reading. He’s heard God telling him to take his wife Sarai, nephew Lot , and all the servants and leave Ur. Abram wanders north into Canaan, but a drought forces him south into Egypt, where he tricks the Pharoah into taking Sarai in return for safety. Once the deception is uncovered, Abram, Sarai, Lot and company are sent back north. Abram then parts ways with his nephew Lot, who is subsequently taken captive in a military coup. Abram rescues Lot from the clutches of the pagan kings, and the next thing we hear is our reading today, the covenant with God.
What’s interesting is that, until this covenantal moment, Abram has been sojourning through strange lands with just his wits and a self-made plan, coupled with a hope and a prayer that what God promised him back in Ur would actually happen in the end.
Sounds an awful lot like Lent to me.
We start with God’s promise that we will be transformed by leaving the world we’re familiar with behind. We use our reason and intelligence, make a plan, and head into that great spiritual unknown called Lent. If we’re doing it the hard way, which generally leads to the best results, we take the road less traveled and find ourselves in situations where trusting in the Lord is the only option. That’s where Paul, Peter, James, and John are as well… off on adventures where dependence and trust in the Lord is all they have. It’s actually the best place to be. #pleaseleavetheyardlighton