God is faithful, and he will not let you be tested beyond your strength, but with the testing he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to endure it. 1 Corinthians 10:13
“OK, that is just wrong,” I say to my friend Jeremy as we walk down the city street.
I’m not sure what offends my sensibilities more, the plush turquoise and cotton-candy pink bunnies decorating the entrance to the restaurant, or the fact that they inhabit what is clearly a Christmas tree, tinsel still intact.
I’m trying to keep a holy Lent. I’m trying to walk with Jesus in the wilderness. Where Satan tempted him. Where he was with the wild beasts. And where angels came to minister to him.
The turquoise bunny is a cheat. It has neither the ferocity of the wild beast to try my strength, nor the power of one of God’s messengers to soothe and heal.
But perhaps it tests me despite my impulse to disregard it. It takes effort and a force of will to combat the empty and co-opted symbols that assault me daily. They seem innocuous. But therein lies their deceit.
I wrestle with the bunny after all. I fight to push beyond it and the detritus that chokes my way. I work to clear the clutter from my path, so I may fully face the cleansing sand that blows fiercely in the desert.
copyright © Anne E. Kitch 2012
