The season of Lent is here, and for the next forty days we'll remember Jesus' journey to Jerusalem and eventually to the cross. This year in worship we begin the series: Gifts of the Dark Wood--Seeing Jesus in the Storms of Life.
The 'dark wood' is an image from the writings of the 14th century poet and author, Dante, s who gives a clever name to something humans have long experienced and that the authors of scripture wrote about long before. The 'dark wood' is a place of confusion and stumbling, and in this series, we'll see the woods as a place of struggle where God's revelations occur through the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
We do not seek to stumble through darkness. Yet throughout the scriptural witness, the wilderness (darkness) is a place that God uses. We learn to rely on the Holy Spirit and discover companions for the journey. In the Old Testament this is true for Moses and the Israelites who wandered in the wilderness relying on God for everything. Even Jesus enters the wilderness, his own dark wood, particularly after his baptism, but there are additional moments when Jesus finds himself in the dark wood.
You and I may not seek the dark wood, but at some point in life we will find ourselves there, and can call upon the Holy Spirit to offer us God's gifts of grace, patience, and revelation. The storms of life come to us all. This Lent, we'll look for the gifts of our Savior even in those troubling times.