The 40 Days in the Desert
Mar. 4th, 2009 08:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
meirwen_1988I don't have an answer to this question. That said, I think sometimes what matters is coming up with the question.
So, the season of Lent commemorates the 40 days that Rabbi Yeshua ben Yosef spent in the desert of Palestine. He removed himself from the comforts of civilization, such as they were in the 1st century in Roman-occupied-Palestine amongst the working classes, and went into the desert to pray, find his way, talk to God. Yes, he fasted. That's a common way for hermits, shamans, priests, the devout of almost any faith to achieve a state which promotes visions--of totems, of burning wheels, of whatever imagery, message, or other wisdom the divine choses to open the door to. Yes, he endured privation--because it is a common practice in a retreat to separate oneself from the distractions of things in order to focus. But he didn't go into the desert to fast. He didn't go into the desert to feel deprived. He went into the desert in search of wisdom, in search of insight, in search of God.
So why is it that when Lent comes around it's all about the fast, about the solemn colors, about the privation, and not about the search? Not about seeking a gift? Not about opening the mind?
On Ash Wednesday, St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City opened her doors at 5:30 AM. Until after 8 that night, without pause, the priests, deacons, and communal ministers distributed ashes to the faithful. We Catholics are very good at counting heads. By the end of the day, more than 60,000 went through the line of that one, single church. And historically, more Catholics go across a church threshold on Ash Wednesday than any other day. A day when the injunction is "Remember thou art dust, and to dust thou wilt return."
Why is it about the pain? Even when the priests and ministers enjoin us to embrace the search, to give to others, to open the heart and mind to insight and divine wisdom, why do so many of us reach for the lash, the hair shirt, the merciless pain of the desert of trial? God is also in the finely crafted meal, the perfume in the hair, an oil massage of the feet, good conversation, and a full night's rest in a a soft bed. Isn't it about the search?
So, the season of Lent commemorates the 40 days that Rabbi Yeshua ben Yosef spent in the desert of Palestine. He removed himself from the comforts of civilization, such as they were in the 1st century in Roman-occupied-Palestine amongst the working classes, and went into the desert to pray, find his way, talk to God. Yes, he fasted. That's a common way for hermits, shamans, priests, the devout of almost any faith to achieve a state which promotes visions--of totems, of burning wheels, of whatever imagery, message, or other wisdom the divine choses to open the door to. Yes, he endured privation--because it is a common practice in a retreat to separate oneself from the distractions of things in order to focus. But he didn't go into the desert to fast. He didn't go into the desert to feel deprived. He went into the desert in search of wisdom, in search of insight, in search of God.
So why is it that when Lent comes around it's all about the fast, about the solemn colors, about the privation, and not about the search? Not about seeking a gift? Not about opening the mind?
On Ash Wednesday, St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City opened her doors at 5:30 AM. Until after 8 that night, without pause, the priests, deacons, and communal ministers distributed ashes to the faithful. We Catholics are very good at counting heads. By the end of the day, more than 60,000 went through the line of that one, single church. And historically, more Catholics go across a church threshold on Ash Wednesday than any other day. A day when the injunction is "Remember thou art dust, and to dust thou wilt return."
Why is it about the pain? Even when the priests and ministers enjoin us to embrace the search, to give to others, to open the heart and mind to insight and divine wisdom, why do so many of us reach for the lash, the hair shirt, the merciless pain of the desert of trial? God is also in the finely crafted meal, the perfume in the hair, an oil massage of the feet, good conversation, and a full night's rest in a a soft bed. Isn't it about the search?
