As we begin the season of Lent we contemplate the wilderness of our lives. “My soul thirsts for you, for God,” (Ps. 63). In the midst of the wilderness we desire to know God. The Bible talks about the wilderness as a place of testing, or trial, or emptiness, or absence. It is often in the wilderness that we discover what is essential. Perhaps we are in the wilderness because we have experienced a serious illness, or a medical uncertainty, perhaps we are depressed or experienced a form of prejudice. You may be walking down the road of darkness and grief and know all about the wilderness. Most people relate it to being in a dry and weary place desperately longing for a cold drink of water. Lent is a time of being in the wilderness and discovering the temptations that plague us. It reminds us that life is difficult and the Christian life is difficult. So we gather in the presence of God and ask, “Create in me a clean heart, and put a new and right Spirit in me.” We draw close to God, pleading, weeping, and longing to be forgiven and to be strengthened. Lent is a time to have a heart to heart with God. So keep talking, keep questioning, keep wondering... it is that season.