Desertscape

Monday in the Third Week of Lent

I think of God, I am restless,
   I ponder, and my spirit faints.  Psalm 77:3

It finally dawns on me what is missing. When my daughters were young, we used a bowl of sand as our Lenten centerpiece, reminding us of the season and our journey through the wilderness. As the girls grew older, they added to this desertscape. Small rocks. Half buried tea lights. One year, a small devil made out of paper appeared, testing us from the center of the table.

But this year the dining room table is bereft of the desert bowl; a star candleholder still occupies the space, a remnant of the Epiphany season. In the front hall, a winter scene is still displayed. Somehow the passing of the seasons has gone unmarked in our household decorations.

Has spiritual time also gone unremarked? Is my restless searching for God hampered by my scattered attention to my daily environment? Or are all of these signs of my particular place and time in my life in Christ? The wilderness can be disorienting. Sometimes, I need to stand still. Other days, I simply need to take one step, and then another. Regardless of my stance, all times are God’s time.


copyright © Anne E. Kitch 2014
Image credit: filmfoto / 123RF Stock Photo