Jesus invites us into the wilderness.

17Feb
Then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the assembly of Israel, and spread out his hands to heaven. He said, ‘O Lord, God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven above or on earth beneath, keeping covenant and steadfast love for your servants who walk before you with all their heart. 
‘But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Even heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you, much less this house that I have built! Have regard to your servant’s prayer and his plea, O Lord my God, heeding the cry and the prayer that your servant prays to you today; that your eyes may be open night and day towards this house, the place of which you said, “My name shall be there”, that you may heed the prayer that your servant prays towards this place. Hear the plea of your servant and of your people Israel when they pray towards this place; O hear in heaven your dwelling-place; heed and forgive.
- 1 Kings 8: 22-23, 27-30 

With my arms outstretched, hands lifted to heaven; my head tilted back, eyes shut, heart open, shoeless feet grasping the ground —That’s how I want to exit Lent and stand before the empty tomb of Easter. If you could see me now. I’m, hunched over a keyboard, arms folded, questioning whether I am qualified to write such as this. An impressionist cloud of tepid worry distracts me. It’s like a J.M.W. Turner painting, only lacking narrative and beauty. I know it’s not real, but I can’t not look at it.

It will be a long journey to Easter Morn. We know. That’s why I/we are here, with the grit of ashes still remembered by our forehead.

Solomon presents the new temple to the Lord with a beautiful mix of utter joy and humble invitation. Today I am not clear if “this house” of which Solomon speaks is a building, a tribe, a family, or Solomon’s own heart. By Easter I will know that he means all of them. I will know because I will have prepared the last, the temple of my own being, to host the Almighty for heart-to-heart conversations about adequacy, forgiveness, and Love.

Today the invitation is Jesus’. He invites us into the wilderness with Him. He gave us a song for the journey:. COME HEALING, by Leonard Cohen.

O gather up the brokenness, and bring it to me now. The fragrance of those promises, you never dared to vow. The splinters that you carry, the cross you left behind. Come healing of the body, come healing of the mind, And let the heavens hear it. The penitential hymn, come healing of the spirit, come healing of the limb. 

Come Healing, Leonard Cohen - Elayna Boynton
Sweet Jesus, I thank you for your invitation into the desert. You lift me from my knees, saying, “Try again, my beloved; follow me.” You remind me that although you will heal my bleeding knees, they are not a reward, but a choice. Your forgiveness, poured into an open heart is your pure gift. “Teach me,” I ask with outstretched arms. Amen.
Old TestamentHealing

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