# Wilderness Day 1 > Come to Stillness: Take a few minutes to allow your mind and heart to be still before God. ### Opening Prayer: *Lord, The house of my soul is narrow; enlarge it that you may enter in. It is ruinous, O repair it! It displeases Your sight. I confess it, I know. But who shall cleanse it, to whom shall I cry but to you? Cleanse me from my secret faults, O Lord, and spare Your servant from strange sins. ~St. Augustine of Hippo* #### Psalm for the Week: Psalm 78 #### Tell the Coming Generation #### A Maskil[a] of Asaph. *78 Give ear, O my people, to my teaching; incline your ears to the words of my mouth!2 I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings from of old,3 things that we have heard and known, that our fathers have told us.4 We will not hide them from their children, but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might, and the wonders that he has done.* *5 He established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers to teach to their children, 6 that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, and arise and tell them to their children,7 so that they should set their hope in God and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments;8 and that they should not be like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation,a generation whose heart was not steadfast, whose spirit was not faithful to God.9 The Ephraimites, armed with[b] the bow, turned back on the day of battle. 10 They did not keep God's covenant, but refused to walk according to his law.* *11 They forgot his works and the wonders that he had shown them.12 In the sight of their fathers he performed wonders in the land of Egypt, in the fields of Zoan.13 He divided the sea and let them pass through it, and made the waters stand like a heap.14 In the daytime he led them with a cloud, and all the night with a fiery light.15 He split rocks in the wilderness and gave them drink abundantly as from the deep.16 He made streams come out of the rock and caused waters to flow down like rivers.* *17 Yet they sinned still more against him, rebelling against the Most High in the desert.18 They tested God in their heart by demanding the food they craved.19 They spoke against God, saying, “Can God spread a table in the wilderness?20 He struck the rock so that water gushed out and streams overflowed. Can he also give bread or provide meat for his people?”* *21 Therefore, when the Lord heard, he was full of wrath; a fire was kindled against Jacob; his anger rose against Israel, 22 because they did not believe in God and did not trust his saving power. 23 Yet he commanded the skies above and opened the doors of heaven, 24 and he rained down on them manna to eat and gave them the grain of heaven. 25 Man ate of the bread of the angels; he sent them food in abundance. 26 He caused the east wind to blow in the heavens, and by his power he led out the south wind; 27 he rained meat on them like dust, winged birds like the sand of the seas; 28 he let them fall in the midst of their camp, all around their dwellings. 29 And they ate and were well filled, for he gave them what they craved.* *30 But before they had satisfied their craving, while the food was still in their mouths,31 the anger of God rose against them, and he killed the strongest of them and laid low the young men of Israel.* *32 In spite of all this, they still sinned; despite his wonders, they did not believe.33 So he made their days vanish like[c] a breath,[d] and their years in terror.34 When he killed them, they sought him; they repented and sought God earnestly.35 They remembered that God was their rock, the Most High God their redeemer.36 But they flattered him with their mouths; they lied to him with their tongues.37 Their heart was not steadfast toward him; they were not faithful to his covenant.38 Yet he, being compassionate, atoned for their iniquity and did not destroy them;he restrained his anger often and did not stir up all his wrath.* *39 He remembered that they were but flesh, a wind that passes and comes not again.40 How often they rebelled against him in the wilderness and grieved him in the desert!41 They tested God again and again and provoked the Holy One of Israel.42 They did not remember his power[e] or the day when he redeemed them from the foe,43 when he performed his signs in Egypt and his marvels in the fields of Zoan.44 He turned their rivers to blood, so that they could not drink of their streams.45 He sent among them swarms of flies, which devoured them, and frogs, which destroyed them.* *46 He gave their crops to the destroying locust and the fruit of their labor to the locust.47 He destroyed their vines with hail and their sycamores with frost.48 He gave over their cattle to the hail and their flocks to thunderbolts.49 He let loose on them his burning anger, wrath, indignation, and distress, a company of destroying angels.50 He made a path for his anger; he did not spare them from death, but gave their lives over to the plague.* *51 He struck down every firstborn in Egypt, the first fruits of their strength in the tents of Ham.52 Then he led out his people like sheep and guided them in the wilderness like a flock.53 He led them in safety, so that they were not afraid, but the sea overwhelmed their enemies.54 And he brought them to his holy land, to the mountain which his right hand had won.55 He drove out nations before them; he apportioned them for a possession and settled the tribes of Israel in their tents.* *56 Yet they tested and rebelled against the Most High God and did not keep his testimonies,57 but turned away and acted treacherously like their fathers; they twisted like a deceitful bow.58 For they provoked him to anger with their high places; they moved him to jealousy with their idols.59 When God heard, he was full of wrath, and he utterly rejected Israel.60 He forsook his dwelling at Shiloh, the tent where he dwelt among mankind,61 and delivered his power to captivity, his glory to the hand of the foe.62 He gave his people over to the sword and vented his wrath on his heritage.63 Fire devoured their young men, and their young women had no marriage song.64 Their priests fell by the sword, and their widows made no lamentation.65 Then the Lord awoke as from sleep, like a strong man shouting because of wine.66 And he put his adversaries to rout; he put them to everlasting shame.* *67 He rejected the tent of Joseph; he did not choose the tribe of Ephraim,68 but he chose the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion, which he loves.69 He built his sanctuary like the high heavens, like the earth, which he has founded forever.70 He chose David his servant and took him from the sheepfolds;71 from following the nursing ewes he brought him to shepherd Jacob his people, Israel his inheritance.72 With upright heart he shepherded them and guided them with his skillful hand.* #### Scripture for the Day: Mathew 3:13-4:11 #### The Baptism of Jesus *13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. 14 John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” 15 But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented. 16 And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him,[a] and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; 17 and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son,[b] with whom I am well pleased.”* *The Temptation of Jesus* *4 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” 4 But he answered, “It is written,* *“‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”* *5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple 6 and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written,* *“‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and “‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’”* *7 Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’” 8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” 10 Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written,* *“‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’”* *11 Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.* #### Reading for Reflection: *Lent is a season when we face the wilderness within. Just as Jesus was driven by the Spirit into the wilderness as a precursor to his earthly ministry, we too, must face the subtle temptations to the false self so that we can be “cleared out” for real ministry. Here we face our own demons and they are rarely what we think! It is not just the temptation to drink pop or eat sweets or enjoy a glass of wine—as real as those temptations become after we have given them up for Lent. In the emptiness created by whatever it is we are fasting from, we become more aware of the compulsions of the false self and it is pretty beastly stuff.* ​ *We experience the evil one’s proficiency at crafting very subtle and dangerous appeals to the instinctual patterns we rely on for safety and survival, significance and success, power and control. We see how far we have to go on the journey of learning to trust God and God alone in the wilderness of our most primal impulses and needs. We are appalled to learn that the false self can and will co-opt anything—including God and the things of God—to secure its own survival, to prove ourselves to others, and to appear successful by whatever standards the group we identify with measures such things.* ​ *A true Lenten journey demands that we look clear-eyed at our lives and wonder, where am I tempted to put even the things of God in service of my instinctual responses to the human situation? In what ways am I tempted to “turn these stones into bread”–using whatever gifts and powers God has given me in order to secure my own survival? Where am I putting God to the test—continually “throwing myself down” in a display of ministry heroics in order to prove something to myself and others—expecting God to come to my rescue time and time again? When, where and how am tempted to worship “all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor” –i.e. the outward trappings of success— rather than seeking the inner authority that comes from worshipping God and serving him only? (The Wilderness Within by Ruth Haley Barton)Reflection and Listening: silent and written* #### Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself #### Song for the Week: Guide me O Thou Great Jehovah *Guide me, O Thou great Jehovah,* *Pilgrim through this barren land.* *I am weak, but Thou art mighty;* *Hold me with Thy powerful hand.* *Bread of heaven,* *Feed me now and evermore;* *Bread of heaven,* *Feed me now and evermore.* *Open now the crystal fountain,* *Whence the healing waters flow;* *Let the fire and cloudy pillar* *Lead me all my journey through.* *Strong Deliverer,* *Be Thou still my Strength and Shield.* *Strong Deliverer,* *Be Thou still my Strength and Shield.* *When I tread the verge of Jordan,* *Bid my anxious fears subside;* *Death of death, and hell's destruction,* *Land me safe on Canaan's side.* *Songs of praises, I will ever give to Thee;* *Songs of praises, I will ever give to Thee.* *Ending:* *Land me safe on Canaan's side* *Bid my anxious fears, bid my anxious fears* *Land me safe on Canaan's side* *Bid my anxious fears, bid my anxious fears, goodbye.* ### Closing Prayer: *Lord I so want to make all of me ready and attentive and available to you. Please help me to clarify and purify my intentions. I have so many contradictory desires. I get preoccupied with things that don’t really matter or last.* ​ *I know that if I give You my heart whatever I do will follow my new heart. In all that I am today...all that I try to do...all my encounters, reflections, even the frustrations and failings and especially in this time of prayer...in all of this...may I place my life in Your hands. Lord I am Yours...make of me what you will. ~Ignatius of Loyola*