Blausee, Switzerland

God speaks.

He always speaks.

And yet it is during the times when we feel alone or abandoned that we need to hear His voice the most.

Yesterday, Ash Wednesday, was a day to begin the journey into the “desert”, or “dark wood” of our hearts.

Midway in the journey of our life

I came to myself in a dark wood,

For the straight way was lost.

-Dante, The Divine Comedy, [Inferno I:1-3]

The Lenten season is all about confronting the things that we would rather not confront.  However, if we are not careful, we can be tempted to believe that we are alone in this confrontation, alone in the “dark wood”, standing waiting to be punished.

For this reason alone, I got up today and attempted to meet God.

Nature has a way to bring the voice of God into our hearts with no words spoken.  Its beauty can penetrate our senses with its imagery and sounds of life.  At times, being in nature can feel as if we are caught in the middle of the silent stare of a loving Father and His Son.

Lent is about entering into the “desert” or “dark wood”, but it does not mean that we are alone.

As I first arrived at my destination today the path that I found myself on lead me into a dark rocky wooded area.

Yesterday I felt like this, I found myself walking back into my dark selfishness and pride which has always created such brokenness and division.

That being said, something within me yesterday told me to hang on, keep going, keep entering into the darkness, for there is a light within this darkness.  For I have been here before.  There is life here.  There is grace.

As I continued to walk today the path lead me to an opening.  It lead me to water.  It lead me to life.   I came upon the Blausee, a crystal clear small lake that inhabits wildlife.  It was if God was saying, rest here awhile.  Be with creation.  Be with silence.  Be with yourself.  Be with Me.

As I made my way around the lake, I came upon a bridge.  A bridge that connected the trail of darkness to the light of life.  It was a bridge that kept me from drowning.

The temptation, especially during Lent, is to believe that I am too far lost when my darkness comes to light.  That my darkness keeps me hidden from God’s forgiving glare.  And it is here, if I stay too long, I begin to drown in hopelessness.  This is where I was heading yesterday until I came here to be reminded of my bridge of Hope, Jesus.  The One who brings me back to the Father, again and again.  The One who knows the desert, the “dark wood”, for He too has traveled the same trails.  He is the bridge to eternal life.

We implore you on behalf of Christ,

be reconciled to God.

For our sake he made him to be sin who did not know sin, 

so that we might become the righteousness of God in him.

-2 Cor 5:20-21

It started to become brighter, the snow on the Alps began to reflect the light.  The sun glares penetrated the clear water showing more life from within.  And the same trails that I had walked to get here were now peppered with glares of sunlight.

The road through Lent is through the desert.  It is through the “dark wood”.  There is no way around it.  Yet it doesn’t mean that we are alone.  For the Father, who is mercy, is here with us.  Sometimes it just takes a walk in nature to remind us of that.