the oasis

Resurrection day is my favorite of the week all year round, but it gains some major extra-appreciation points during Lent.  It is the shady, speckled with palm trees and sparkling waters oasis in our desert wanderings, and baby do I ever take a plunge into that refreshing pool.

It is not just having a break from the fasting and abstaining, but it serves as a reminder that though we walk through Lent meditating on the sufferings of our Beloved Savior, we know that the finale is unending Glory and Joy.  Resurrection is our destiny, and Sunday reminds me of that.  So do the trees with their little buds peeping out to take the first blinking glimpses of the blue skies and sunshine.  

Spring is just warming up for her big debut, and giving us little teasers to remind us that out of the deaths of life come resurrection.  

My awareness of the soul-feeding effect of the beauty of God’s creation has been raised to a new level during the first few days of Lent. I am not as focused on other things that have had my attention otherwise, and my beauty awareness has been heightened.  It is the Beauty of God’s Love and I feast on it during this time of fasting.  

I have come to find that when we enter into the desert with Him, He blesses us in unexpected ways, and shows us new beauties all along.  Like a picnic on an upper 60s degree day in February.

Like kiwis and dancing in a gazebo while singing “raindrops on roses” with the Sound of Music’s biggest littlest fan.

Like a tiny tree hugger and geese doing silly geesish things.

and the sky using the water as a mirror. 

Like beautiful, blooming pregnant women holding immortal souls in their cozy bellies.

And friends getting engaged and having a party of joy and balloons and cheers to begin their new journey together properly.

Just like that.  

There will always be moments of struggle, of wishing it would just hurry up and be Easter already. But God’s timing is perfect.  And, as Lent always comes at just the right moment, so does Easter.  So, as I reluctantly prepare to hoist myself out of the sparkling waters, dry off under a palm tree and allow a cool breeze to send me on my way, I trust that He is there with me.  To go forward in the desert and discover the beauty that always is united with sacrifice as long as it is done with, in and through Him. 

As it said in the Gospel today:

The Spirit drove Jesus out into the desert,
and he remained in the desert for forty days,
tempted by Satan.
He was among wild beasts,
and the angels ministered to him.

After John had been arrested,
Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God:
"This is the time of fulfillment.
The kingdom of God is at hand.
Repent, and believe in the gospel." Mark 1:12-15



He was ministered to by angels in the desert.  He will send angels to minister to us as well.  

"For he commands his angels with regard to you,

to guard you wherever you go.

^{With their hands they shall support you,}

lest you strike your foot against a stone." Psalm 91:11-13

Have a very beautiful week!

i'll meet you in the desert.