A Poem, A Proverb, A Painting, A Prayer: A Lenten Journey-- Day 5: 1st Sunday in Lent

Today's Theme: Temptation in the Wilderness (today's gospel)


Poem: Temptation In The Wired Wilderness
Our Lord spent forty days and forty nights
Resisting Satan in the wilderness.
We picture barren rocks and sand; we might
Add in a scrubby tree or two. I guess
That’s where temptation ought to come, so we
Can see it from at least a mile away,
And be prepared, with Bibles, church retreats,
And exhortations to stand firm.

Instead it wounds with cuts too small to see,
In this our wired wilderness. We play
And work in deserts of the digital:
Abuzz with locust-noise of clicks and tweets
And filled with lonely crowds. Our enemy
Is faced and fought right here, or not at all.
-------Holly Ordway



Proverb:
“’Tis one thing to be tempted, Escalus,
       Another thing to fall.”
-------William Shakespeare, Measure for Measure, Act II, scene 2



Painting: Satan Tempts Jesus in the Wilderness, Briton Riviere, 1898

      



Prayer:
O God,
you make all things work together
for good to those who love you.
Fill us with the invincible power of your love
that the holy desires you have put in our hearts
may not be changed by any temptation;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
----------Collect from The Gelasian Sacramentary, 8th century, Paris