We have all had our share of challenging experiences in life, experiences of being taken beyond the point we thought was our ability to cope. In such moments, those things or circumstances or people we thought we needed are not there and we stand alone. We come to know who we are at our core. We are living from our essence.
The fundamental temptation in life is to forget that our essence is the essence of all creation. We are made in the image and likeness of a life-giving Creation. The truth of our essentially divine nature is the message the authors of Genesis convey in the first reading’s creation story. That message is reaffirmed in Jesus’ desert sojourn and temptation story. The temptation set before Jesus, and every disciple, harkens back to the Genesis creation lesson. The temptation is to be “like gods.” But when those words are spoken in Genesis they are describing humanity’s desire to be like false gods. As false gods we forget our essentially divine essence. We forget we are created in communion with God. We seek other identities, superior ones. We give ourselves to other attachments we think might suit us better. We seek the comfort of stuff, forgetting all that is comes forth as gifts from Creation. We are tempted to think the world revolves around us and our needs and everyone and everything is at our disposal. We seek glory in the kingdoms of this world forgetting we are called into service for our brothers and sisters. We seek control and rule and supremacy. All these behaviors are the behaviors of false gods. They are the behaviors with which Jesus was tempted in the desert. He was able to dismiss them all because he knew his Divine Essence. We are able to dismiss them all as well when we live from our essentially Divine nature.
What if our movement into the desert, away from the many things we rely on, is a movement toward the depth of our Divine essence?
Prayer: Essence, I live in communion with you.
Question: The Spirit led Jesus into the desert. How can I let the Spirit guide me these coming 40 days?
March 9, 2014 Gospel Matthew 4:1-11 First Sunday of Lent