I remember my first winter living in Winnipeg, Canada as a missionary– the cold, dreary gray days; the sub-freezing temperatures; the darkness that never seemed to end. I felt like I was living in the frozen tundra of the Arctic. I became depressed as winter dragged on. I remember going to confession one frigid dark Friday evening, as I explained my feeling to the priest. His response to me was: It’s Canada in the middle of winter – we all feel down in the dumps in the dark, cold winter – don’t worry about it – spring will soon be here.
Well, that was how I felt up in Canada in the middle of winter. Try to imagine how the Israelites felt in the middle of their journey: tired, hungry, and thirsty. They gave up hope in the middle of a desert journey that seemed to never end. They were fed up with their situation, so they turned against Moses and against God for having brought them to the hot, desolate, barren desert. Their life of bondage in Egypt seemed good in comparison to what they were enduring on the Exodus. Where was God in all of this, they thought.
It’s often easy for us to slip into hopelessness and despair in the midst of a difficult situation. We may want to blame someone else for our misery and agony. When a loved one is sick or dies, when we are unemployed, when we fail at sometime: where do we find hope when our lives seem so dark and hopeless?
The Canadian winter felt like it would never end, but when spring and summer finally came, it was so full of joy and hope. The Canadians planted beautiful gardens, they spent time outside hiking or swimming or bike riding. They enjoyed every moment of beautiful weather they could get, knowing that another winter would be just around the corner. They found God’s presence in the beauty of nature and in the grandeur of his creation. I often found God’s presence in those dark, dreary winter days of the Canadian winters, but sometimes I had to really look for him.
How do we open ourselves to God’s presence in our lives? We hear in today’s psalm: “O God, hear my prayer and let my cry come to you.” Just as Moses and Jesus were able to bring God’s presence to his people in those difficult moments in their lives, we are also called to bring God’s presence to others in the midst of their reality, to bring God’s presence as we encounter him in the here and now. As we continue our journey in these final days of Lent, may we continuously turn to God as we find him in the reality of our lives, opening ourselves and others to the love and the life that are present to us. Let us find hope in the Lord no matter where that reality finds us.
No comments:
Post a Comment