3/24/2015 – Tuesday of fifth week of Lent – Numbers 21:4-9, Psalm 102

      We had a rough snow storm that shut down Tupelo at the end of February.  It was tough on us here in the South because we don’t have a lot of snow removal equipment down here.  I have siblings that live in Boston and Chicago.  I think of the rough winters they’ve had there these past two winters.  I remember living in Chicago and Winnipeg and dealing with the revere winters there.  In fact, for two years in a row, the Great Lakes have frozen over; it has to be really, really cold for that to happen. 

       Putting up with a rough winter is tough.  But try to imagine how the Israelites felt in the middle of their journey.  They’re tired, hungry, thirsty, and downright grumpy.  They give up hope in the middle of a desert journey that seems to never end.  They’re fed up with their situation.  They complain against God and against Moses for bringing them into this barren desert wilderness.  Looking back nostalgically, their life of bondage in Egypt seems good in comparison to what they are enduring now.  What they don’t understand is that God is still with them. 

         It’s easy for us to become hopeless and desperate in the midst of a crisis or a difficult situation.  We can look for someone else to blame for our misery and agony.  When a loved one is sick or dies, when we cannot find a job, when we fail at sometime we put our heart into, when our lives seem to fall apart at the seams – we wonder where do we find hope in the midst of the darkness and despair.

          For those living up in the Midwest and the Northeast this year, the winter can seem endless, but spring and summer will finally come. For that, we can be filled with hope and joy

          How do we open ourselves to God’s presence in our lives?  “O God, hear my prayer and let my cry come to you” – that is what the psalmist prays in today’s psalm.  Just as Moses and Jesus were able to bring God’s presence to his people in that difficult moment in their desert, we are also called to bring God’s presence to others in the midst of their reality, to bring God’s presence as we currently experience him in our lives.  
         As we continue our journey in these final days of Lent, may we never fail to turn to God, finding him in the reality of our lives. May we open ourselves and open others to the love and life of God that is present to us. Let us find hope in the Lord no matter where that reality finds us.