"A Desert Blessing"

Thanks, all, for the great experience in Tucson. I have written this reflection.--Paul Lundborg

“Desert Blessing”
February 2009

For forty years we wandered,
Each in our own wilderness.
Entering villages and cities
We conquered their citizens
With brash youthfulness
And true doctrine,
Trusting in our own rightness.
We looked back in longing for the safety
Of theological brick-making
We had known for four brief years.

The desert’s manna failed to satisfy
Our appetites for success and fame.
But the grace of the wilderness
Was revealed in failure.
We couldn’t find our way
And had to ask for directions.
Left to rely on our own brilliance
We failed to heal the sick
Release the captive
Remember the message
And soon we realized we were lost.

That’s when the manna
Began to taste good,
To satisfy our appetite.
We were filled by flakes of sustenance
Not of our own making.
It was all grace.
In search of a feast,
We had been granted enough.
And we survived.

More could be said of our 40 years,
But we were called to re-unite.
Come away from your wilderness
To another desert to peek into
The Land of Promise.
Come to feast on memory and song,
Laughter and healing.

Here was delight
In the Trinity’s affirmation
Of fellowship, communion, koinonia.
Fueled by memories of a shared history
And a common hope for a new future,
We glimpsed a vision of heaven’s shore.

We tasted the feast of abundant grace
In soulful talk and gracious listening.

We heard the elders’ voices
Singing ‘round the throne,
And they were our own.

The foolish wisdom acquired by experience
Was shared by old friends
With whom we had once been young.

Gifts we had witnessed decades ago
And labeled as “potential”
Had been polished through the years
And emerged as “fulfilled”.

Becoming more of what we have always been,
We witnessed congruency, integrity, and wisdom
In each other.

We were blessed in the wilderness,
By the Redemptorists,
And our common Redeemer,
In their desert home.

Listen for the whistle.
Could be a train
Just passing by.
Or a memory of our blessing.