I thought he said "dessert journey" and I told him I'd be glad to go along with him and have some pie. He pointed out that maybe, since it's Lent and all, I should take my own desert journey and give up eating pie for 40 days.
We Catholics are notorious for sacrificing or "giving up" during Lent. Personally, I've always felt that rather than deny myself something pleasurable over the course of the holy season, it would be much more righteous of me to do something unselfish for others.
I thought perhaps I could start by sharing my pie. That way everyone wins. Of course, I'll need to get more pie.
Now the idea of the 40 days of Lent being likened to a "desert journey" is a reflection on the 40 years that Moses spent in the desert, leading the Israelites to the Promised Land. We've managed to narrow it down to 40 days for our own purposes because someone must have figured out that it should never have taken the Chosen People that long to get from Point A to Point B.
The only reason it did was because Moses was so fiercely stubborn.
That and he walked slow. His bunions really bothered him. And the Lord, with his wonderful sense of humor, led him to Mt. Sinai and said, "Here, Moses. Take two tablets and call me in the morning."
So it's no wonder the people were getting so testy on their desert journey. And at one point they had had quite enough and turned on Moses.
"Come on, Moses! It's been almost 40 years and we're getting nowhere! Day after day, the same thing. Tear down the campsite, trudge through the heat, up one sand dune and down another, step in camel poop and ruin another pair of sandals!
"And what do we get to eat, Moses? A bunch of weird, stale cookies that fall out of the sky. Then you do that trick where you tap the rock with the stick and--presto chango--we all get a drink of water! Whoopee!
"Well, yesterday we noticed something when you tapped that rock. It's the same rock every day! We've been walking in circles! We're lost, aren't we? And all because you refuse to stop at an oasis and ask for directions!
"This is why we build golden calves! For something to do! We're going crazy out here, Moses!
"Then to scare us, you come down from that mountain looking like you've seen a ghost, you've aged about 90 years, you're muttering some nonsense about a bush that's on fire, then you tell us that you've got some new rules for us that are written on a couple of slabs of rock! Is the heat getting to you, Moses? Well, we can't take it anymore!"
After putting up with all of that, it must have been disappointing for Moses to find out that God would not let him enter the Promised Land. Everyone in his group was jumping up and down, whooping and hollering, "We made it! Yay! It's the Promised Land! There it is! Come on, Moses. We'll race you!"
"No, that's all right. You guys go on ahead and I'll catch up later."
Now that was probably one of the most unselfish acts of all. To lead a whining, belly-aching, and faithless throng on a desert journey for 40 years, without cable TV, while knowing full well that he himself could never cross over into the Land of Milk and Honey.
Sometimes it probably did appear that Moses had no direction, that he didn't know where he was going. Yet he forged ahead on his desert journey with no map, but only faith.
And often that's what life is like, isn't it? We seem to wander aimlessly, without direction, wondering if we're really getting anywhere. But, like Moses, we don't stop to ask for directions, because if we have faith, that is our road map. We know we just have to keep moving.
So when Lent rolls around, have a good desert journey and take time out for a piece of pie.
________
Copyright by Wendel Potter
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