Belonging in the Wilderness: I Didn't Get My Wish!

On Palm Sunday, Vanessa Maleare confronts the feelings of sadness, disappointment, and frustration we experience when something is different than we anticipated. Jesus didn’t act like the violent warrior king many of the people anticipated. What do you do when you face unmet expectations? Vanessa invites us to choose how we respond by realizing that “I can change what I do next.”   Belonging in the Wilderness lays bare the tension between our vulnerable humanity… our desire to simply be, without hustling for worthiness or trying to fit in… and our longing for Beloved Community with our friends, family, neighbors, enemies, creation, and our Creator. The wilderness is an unavoidable part of this journey. It is where we abandon the game of dressing up like our mythical heroes and begin to uncover the mystery of our one wild and true self.  A life so rooted in Divine Love, we find ourselves simultaneously set apart and intimately connected to God’s global family. We rarely choose to go to the wilderness, where all our distractions and pretense evaporate. Yet the wilderness invites us to live together for what really matters, because here there is energy for little else. There are no shortcuts in the wilderness. It is a solitary journey, which we cannot walk alone.     Reflection Questions: Have I been radically disappointed lately?  I can’t change the past, but what will I do next?  What this week, imagine yourself saving your own “Hosannas,” “Save me from injustice,” or “Save me from this toxic relationship [with cookie dough].”