Monday, August 24, 2009

Reflections from a Journey into the Wilderness

It has been two weeks since my sisters and I journeyed into the heart of our nations' parks containing (combined) well over 3 million acres of undeveloped land. But my journey into the wilderness continues to teach me and its lesson follows me as I retreat from rest and solitude into the busyness of human community life.

The wilderness is a powerful teacher of simple trust in the truth that the provision of God is abundant even in the absence of strife. The land that we walked was almost untouched by human hands, and yet is was so beautiful, so perfect, so peaceful.

I remember thinking at one very distinct point along a particularly lengthy hike, "Why do I worry?" In the middle of grassy fields and flowers and eagles and wolves, the anxieties of troublesome headline news and the stresses of work and the frustration of endless political squabbles all seemed so entirely distant, and in their distance, somehow insignificant when compared to the majesty and ordering of the wilderness.

So, why do I worry, O me of little faith? Is not the provision of God abundant, even in the wilderness? (See Matthew 6:28-31)