Thomas said, “Master, we have no idea where you’re going. How do you expect us to know the path?” Jesus said, “I am the Path, the Truth, and the Life."                                                        John 14:6-7a

It was early afternoon some days post deer hunting season. I was living in a Northern Wisconsin cabin with my dog Charlie. After a particularly demanding week, my mind was traveling in a hundred      directions. Perhaps a walk in the woods might restore some sanity. With no destination in mind we went traipsing.
Autumn’s grandeur was no longer. The first snow had yet to fall. Denuded of leaves, the trees looked particularly shabby and bleak. An overcast sky gave the woods a two dimensional feel. No bother. I was preoccupied. Beauty would have been wasted on me that day. With so much on my mind, Charlie had a pretty poor traveling companion.
Who knows how far we’d walked before being surprised at how much darker the woods had become. Another surprise quickly followed. Nothing looked familiar. Soon a question began to take shape. “Where in the hell are we?” As I deliberated, something seemed to begin crawling up my spine, with a slow but deliberate pace. It was a clammy fear; something between terror and dread. A sobering experience reserved for those moments when reality is unveiled. LOST.
As I reflected on that day, words written by an Italian poet from the thirteenth century came to me. “Midway upon the journey of our life, I found myself within a forest dark
for the straightforward path had been lost... I cannot well repeat how there I entered so full was I of slumber at the moment in which I had abandoned the true way.
So began Dante’s journey he named The Divine Comedy. I had to laugh because every one of his words rang true.
The dominant theme of Lent is a wilderness journey. As a season, Lent is sacred time. A sublime gift for Christians to become more intentional in our spiritual journey. It’s not a time to make ourselves miserable but an invitation to be more aware of the path we are traveling. Take it from me, Lent can actually become good news for those who have recently awakened in a darkening wood. Whether that awakening reveals a mind numbing boredom, a recent diagnosis, a heart breaking goodbye, a deepening sense of meaningless or even clammy fear.
For six weeks beginning this year on Valentine’s Day, we are invited to become more aware of our life’s journey. Call it a Pilgrimage if you prefer. A forty day pilgrimage where we travel with Jesus of Nazareth through his own wilderness temptation and on the road ascending to Jerusalem where he will reveal the heart and will of God.
The Season of Lent is a survival course in re-orienteering. Only those who have awakened to the reality of being lost will seek a way (and a guide) out of their wild places. Those willing to trust Jesus as their guide are in for an adventure worth living (and dying) for. With billions of likes, those who have risked the adventure testify that his way is the path of life and truth. But it won’t be easy. Going back to sleep will be a constant temptation. You may be asked to walk by faith and not by sight. To follow Jesus will require a willingness to be responsible to the demands your unique life makes of you. Don’t bother if you aren’t willing to do the hard work of putting into practice his teachings. However Lent does come with a guarantee; the joy of basking in the light of Easter morning.
It’s a real possibility that on the night of this upcoming Ash Wednesday, at the edge of your dark woods, in all your lostness, you might see that light. And you might even catch a glimpse of reality revealing just how dazzling a person God dreamed you to be.