As we journey into the first Sunday of Lent, we begin with the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness. Why does Jesus go into the wilderness? The Rev. Brian Erickson gives us a surprising answer in "Dress Rehearsal in the Desert." There is a good discussion about temptations - ones we easily recognize, and one's we don't recognize so easily - ones that sound good, or like God. What does Erickson say is the only "vaccine" against temptation? What do you think about that?
In "The Wilderness Exam, "The Rev. Barbara Taylor focuses on where the temptations take place - the wilderness. Take time to write down all the things she describes as "the wilderness," and then make up your own list of wilderness experiences. What is the wisdom and value of the wilderness? What can a wilderness experience do for us? What did it do for Jesus? What is life, and our relationship with God and each other really like without the usual "painkillers," "pacifiers," "anesthesia"? What are our "painkillers," "pacifiers," "anesthesia?" It is life without the "soma" of Aldus Huxley's Brave New World.
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