Jesus was called into deep relationship with – union with – the wild. The divine voice spoke to him there, through the bodies of wild animals, desert sands, angels, and sun and stars. He needed this support as he faced his accuser, diablos in Greek. You know the one – that inner critic, accuser, adversary – intent on keeping us distracted and safe from the dangers of prophetic leadership. Brené Brown simply calls that one “shame.” Depth psychologist Bill Plotkin calls that voice the “loyal soldier”: a sub-personality we all have whose role in your psyche is to keep you safe. And small.
In order to handle this intense internal wrestling, Jesus needed the support of the wilderness. Not the temple. Not the community. Just the wilderness, alone. The wilderness is the place to go when you are standing at the threshold, like Jesus was, of a calling that asks you to risk everything and embody all you are created to be. In the wilderness – the place that speaks – you find that you are not alone.
This message is excerpted from “Seeing the wilderness” by Victoria Loorz in the September/October 2022 Gather magazine.
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