On this first Sunday of Lent the gospel lesson in the ecumenical lectionary is about Jesus' wilderness sojourn of 40 days, which is why this liturgical season is 40 days. Jesus would have needed his wits about him in the harsh Judean wilderness where the days can be scorching hot while the nights are often bone-chillingly cold. The emphasis in this story is usually on the temptations Jesus endured from Satan or the Devil, depending on the version we read. We tend to downplay the spiritual significance of time in the desert or wilderness, even though this has been an important aspect of our Christian tradition through the centuries/
Christ in the desert got me thinking about Christ in the Desert, a Benedictine monastery in the high plateau region of New Mexico which I've visited a couple of times through the years. This sparse and rugged area is home to the monastery, a Sufi Muslim retreat centre, a Sikh centre, and Ghost Ranch Conference and Retreat centre. You could say it is spiritually auspicious!
I went to an event at Ghost Ranch and discovered that Christ in the Desert, which I'd followed online for years, was about 25 kilometres away, although 20 kilometres of that was along the Chama River and often impassable.
I timidly made my way along the road in my rental car, even though the caution was that it would be wiser to use a four-wheel drive vehicle. The Benedictine brothers established this remote Christian community in the early 1960's, and have always lived "off the grid." Thomas Merton declared it the perfect monastic chapel while painter Georgia O'Keeffe attended worship there from time to time despite being an agnostic.
There is something about remoteness and natural beauty which opens us to the holy even as it threatens to overwhelm us at times. It removes the chaos and the clutter and helps us to find the quiet centre of our relationship with Christ, as the hymn says.
These were powerful experiences for me which I'll never forget.
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