Now into the wilderness.
+ The Ache for Meaning
Along with The Deep Down Things by Amber and Seth Haines, Beholding by Strahan Coleman, Deep Down Faith by Cornelius Planting Jr., and Practicing the Way by John Mark Comer, The Ache for Meaning by Tommy Brown has been another wonder-filled book I am grateful to begin the season of Lent with in 2024.
Before I share some key questions that The Ache for Meaning highlights that are personal, universal, as well as ancient and fresh, here is a reminder about some of the background to Lent:
We ought to approach Lent as an opportunity, not a requirement.
After all, Lent is meant to be the Church's springtime, a time when, out of the darkness of sin's winter, a repentant, empowered people emerges. No wonder one liturgy refers to it as "this joyful season." Put another way, Lent is the season in which we ought to be surprised by joy. Our self-sacrifices serve no purpose unless, by laying aside this or that desire, we are able to focus on our heart's deepest longing: unity with Christ. In Him—in His suffering and death, His resurrection and triumph—we find our truest joy.
A Whole New Way to See the World
The Ache for Meaning
I began to hear echoes from Jesus' wilderness temptations in conversations I was having, in challenges I was facing. As I returned to this story over and over, I also saw my questions with greater clarity.
Once you see, you can't unsee.
It's (been) a transformational journey,
one of learning to walk in
contentment, fulfillment, and hope.
Some journeys are about destinations.
This journey is about invitations.
The point isn't to quickly a correct answer; the point is to experience transformation as you live with the questions in the foreground of your heart and mind.
Money couldn't buy
the security I needed.
Success couldn't provide
the approval I desired.
Power and control
corroded my soul.
When all the answers failed,
the questions guided me home.
The passage about Jesus' temptations, which doesn't contain even one question, revealed to me my questions, the places in my soul that longed to be noticed.
+ Will I have enough?
+ Am I enough?
+ Do I matter?
These are our questions —
they echo in every human soul.
And though we're all asking these three questions in different ways, we hardly — if ever — voice them. Because if we asked these questions, aloud, we'd risk vulnerability.
Vulnerability opens us
to the possibility of rejection.
Vulnerability also opens us
to the possibility of solidarity.
And solidarity means
we're not alone.
It means
you're not alone.
We can trust that we're all
seeking the same things,
asking the same three questions
in one form or another.
The most personal desires
are the most universal,
and the most universal desires
are the most personal.
And the most ancient.
Author Fyodor Dostoevsky wrote of the wilderness temptations in his novel The Brothers Karamazov: For in these ... questions all of subsequent human history is as if brought together into a single whole and foretold ...
In other words, the temptations Jesus faced represent every temptation you will face in life, every temptation humankind has ever faced. Thomas Keating identifies (our) basic, primal impulses as the following needs:
+ safety / security / survival
Will I have enough?
+ affection / esteem / approval
Am I enough?
+ power and control
Do I matter?
"All of these are legitimate human needs. The sin problem has to do with the fact that we have all developed unconscious ways of meeting these needs for ourselves on our own terms ... apart from God." + Ruth Haley Barton, spiritual director and teacher
What valid need —
security, approval, or control
— am I trying to meet in
an unhealthy way and
on my own terms?
As you see Christ's wilderness temptations take shape in various forms in your daily life and interactions, you'll awaken to the reality that everywhere is wilderness, and we're all walking in it.
But we're not walking alone.
(And remember) you can't understand what happens in the wilderness unless you understand what transpired at the river.
Jesus' baptism — is the beginning of the temptation scene. Before he's driven by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tested, he's baptized in the river and hears the Voice of God affirming him.
God the Father proclaimed
this reality,
"This is my beloved Son,
with whom I am well pleased,"
before Jesus faced his tests,
not because he passed them.
Jesus enters the wilderness
to face his temptations
in full confidence
as his Father's beloved,
well-pleasing Son.
And he does this having
not passed one test,
performed one miracle,
or preached one sermon.
Jesus' identity flows
from his Father's
words of approval,
not for his Father's
words of approval.
This ability to
receive,
embrace,
and live
from God-given
sense of identity
has profound implications
for our lives as well,
because ...
what God says about Jesus,
God says about you.
What God says about you
... is based in the
unshakable,
unfathomable
love of God
for his children,
for all who believe
and receive him.
Now, into the wilderness.
+ Tommy Brown
pgs. 10-18, 24-26
Bonus:
For a complement to The Ache for Meaning, Justin Brierley's
Unbelievable? Why, After Ten Years of Talking with Atheists, I'm Still a Christian explores how God provides good explanations for:
+ human existence
+ human value
+ human purpose
And as the poet Audre Lorde said,
"There are no new ideas.
There are only new ways
of making them felt."
Links to other Lenten posts:
With anticipation and joy,
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