Today we look to John the baptizer, the prophet we know as the forerunner, called to prepare the way of the Lord. The gospel tells us: “The word of the Lord came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness.” The wilderness in scripture is the place of encounter with God. Moses encountered God in the burning bush in the wilderness. The children of Israel encountered God in their 40-year sojourn in the wilderness and later in the wilderness of exile. Jesus also had his wilderness experience, led there by the Holy Spirit. I might also suggest Gethsemane as a place of wilderness for him, as well.

God faithfully continues to come to us in the wildernesses of our lives, to provide the manna we need to feed on, the pillar of fire to guide us on our way, as he did for the Israelites. When our lives are bleak and barren, when the way ahead is rocky and uncertain, when all seems dark and drear, we may come to realize we are powerless over the circumstances of our lives. In our vulnerability, we may be ready for an encounter with the Divine. God is always present, bidden or unbidden, subtly reaching out to us, hoping to get our attention in one way or another, but only when we are open and receptive, do we experience that holy Presence. So long as we think we are in control, that we can do it all on our own, we aren’t ready to accept what God has prepared for us. Sometimes, maybe even often, it takes finding ourselves in a wilderness to open our eyes, our ears, our hearts to the Ultimate Reality of Love.

The idea of wilderness as a place of refuge, as described in Revelation 12:6: “And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, so that she can be nourished . . . “ is comforting to me. It gives me hope to know that God is the One who sustains us, each and all, in and through the wildernesses that come our way, that I can trust God’s abiding grace.