Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Matthew 5:6, NRSV
Deserts abound in the journey of life. There’s no sense acting like we deserve a free pass, either. A famous desert saint, Antony of Egypt, said ‘Without temptation no one can be saved.’ He might as easily have said, without wilderness times no one can be saved. Why? In the privation of the desert we can glimpse the famished depths within. What we’re made of is hunger. “Everybody’s got a hungry heart”— Bruce Springsteen got it right, too. –Anthony Chvala-Smith, The Kingdoms in Our Heads
Reflection:
- In the privation of desert places, what can you learn about the “famished depths within?”
- What hunger are you “made of?” What is the deepest thing you hunger for?
- Prayerfully dwell in the text from Matthew 4:6. What is God’s invitation to you in this text today?
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