ON BEING CAREFUL

            Lent is a day-by-day, moment-by-moment, journey with our God to the place of the Skull, and the silence of the day after Jesus' crucifixion.  We are reminded on this journey that the ancient Hebrews journeyed with God for forty years in the wilderness after their exodus from Egypt.  Why did they wander in the desert when it was only an eleven-day journey to the Promised Land? They had trust issues concerning their God. 

            Israel could not simply let God be God.  They were consumed by their own passions and by their own thinking.  Richard Rohr speaks of how "the primary addiction for all humans is addiction to our own way of thinking" (Richard Rohr's Daily Meditation, November 21, 2015).  It's true, isn't it?  We think what we think and then think that it is always and without exception "the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help us God."  Human beings far too easily fall into the trap of our own narcissism.          

           

            In the desert the Hebrews fell into idolatry, sexual immorality, testing God, and grumbling.  Welcome to the 21^st century.  Not much has changed.  These sins still haunt the people of God today.  Paul saw it two thousand years ago and warned the church, "these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did" (I Cor. 10:11).  Not us, we might say.  Not us.  Yes, us.  So Paul counsels us, "If you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall" (vs. 12).          

            Maybe Lent is that time for the church to revisit her own humanity.  None of us is beyond the possibility of sin and failure and weakness and falling victim to our own narcissism.  Truth is, we are all addicted to "our own way of thinking."  In a heartbeat we can take our eyes off God and live in the ways and means of our own flesh.   None off us is beyond the counsel, "Be careful."

            Thankfully, in Lent we also learn that "God is faithful" (vs. 13). We are under no obligation to fall victim to sin. God is always present to "provide a way out" (vs.13), as we live with our very real selves. Jesus is with us day by day.  Our times are in the hands of God (see Psalm 31:15).