Into the Wilderness

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” But he answered, “It is written,“‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, “‘He will command his angels concerning you,’and “‘On their hands they will bear you up,
lest you strike your foot against a stone.’”

Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’” Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “‘You shall worship the Lord your God
and him only shall you serve.’” Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him. Matthew 4:1-11

Into the Wilderness

Into the wilderness I go
sent by God already tempted
the desire to return home to safety
consumes me,rattles my bones.

Into the wilderness I go
alone, shaking and afraid
the shadows like predators surround
and sleep will not come.

Into the wilderness I go
a new chapter, a new life
humanity sparked with divinity
my body rails against this discipline.

Into the wilderness I go
hunger my constant companion
weak with worry and fear
I give into God and cry my heart.

Into the wilderness I go
the next pages unwritten and blank
weeping with anxiety I fall
and find I am not alone.

Into the wilderness we must go
for we must begin again wrapped
in love and total dependence on God
we finally seek not our way, but the Creator's.