Gardens in the Wilderness

Franciscan University, Fall of 2023. I chose this picture because it has some beautiful greenery (and orangery) but also because I already miss Fall. Winter has some of its own important lessons, though-- try to appreciate the silence, stillness, and even the biting cold this year.

  

   Let me tell you a story.

    "And I [God] said to them [the Israelites], cast away the detestable things your eyes feast on, every one of you, and do not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt; I am the Lord your God. But they rebelled against me and would not listen to me; they did not every man cast away the detestable things their eyes feasted on, nor did they forsake the idols of Egypt."

    "Then I thought I would pour out my wrath upon them and spend my anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt. But I acted for the sake of my name, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations among whom they dwelt, in whose sight I made myself known to them in bringing them out of the land of Egypt. So I led them out of the land of Egypt and brought them into the wilderness. I gave them my statutes and showed them my ordinances, by whose observance man shall live. Moreover I gave them my sabbaths, as a sign between me and them, that they might know that I the Lord sanctify them. But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness; they did not walk in my statutes but rejected my ordinances, by whose observance man shall live; and my sabbaths they greatly profaned."

    "Then I thought I would pour out my wrath upon them in the wilderness, to make a full end of them. But I acted for the sake of my name, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, in whose sight I had brought them out. Moreover I swore to them in the wilderness that I would not bring them into the land which I had given them, a land flowing with milk and honey, the most glorious of all lands, because they rejected my ordinances and did not walk in my statutes, and profaned my sabbaths; for their heart went after their idols. Nevertheless my eye spared them, and I did not destroy them or make a full end of them in the wilderness." -Ezekiel 20:7-17

    As the citation at the end shows, this is not my own story, but a story told by the prophet Ezekiel. The orator of the story, however, is God Himself, as He recounts the life of His chosen people as they left Egypt, travelled through the wilderness, and first attempted to enter into the Promised Land. It's a disheartening story to hear, especially as you hear the voice of not only a disappointed God, but a disappointed Father. The same Father and God who had miraculously and triumphantly led His people from the slavery of Egypt so they could inhabit forever the "most glorious of all lands" could, in wanting true freedom for His children, only watch as they stubbornly held on to their slavery, the wilderness of sin that was present in Egypt.

    Though He could have easily and justifiably destroyed the Israelites in their sin and stubbornness, God instead chose a different, more merciful option. He did not remove Himself or His promises from them, but He left them in the wilderness.

    The wilderness: a place of nothingness, of fear, of death, of pain. A place where the sun constantly breaks your back with heat, and the night whips you with cold howling winds. A place where there is nothing and no one to turn to that will truly keep you alive and sane-- no one but God.

    This was a great act of God's mercy, not only because He didn't just destroy the chosen people then and there, but also because He gave them a way to learn to choose His goodness. The Israelites were given two options: live or die. To live in God, as the Israelites had experienced, is miraculous. God parts the Red Sea, makes water gush forth from the rock, quails fly through the desert, and manna descend upon the Earth, and all the Israelites had to do was obediently and humbly receive. To die without God was equally simple: arrogantly and pridefully serve yourself and receive all you can provide for yourself, which in the desert, is pretty much nothing.

    This simple lesson worked. In time, the Israelites did enter the promise land, by humbly and obediently following the Lord and so receiving His miracles-- God parted the Jordan River, felled the walls of Jericho, and threw hailstones from Heaven upon the enemies of Israel. However, the Israel that traveled to the Promised Land was not the same Israel that entered the Promised Land. The generation that left Egypt had to die, and only their children, the next generation, could enter. For:

    "The Lord's anger was kindled on that day, and He swore, saying, 'Surely none of the men who came up out of Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, shall see the land which I swore to give to Abraham, to Issac, and to Jacob, because they have not wholly followed me...' and He made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until all the generation that had done evil in the sight of the Lord was consumed." -Numbers 32:10-11, 13

    Before Israel could enter the Promised Land, they had to be recreated in the wilderness. For there can be no pride, no sin on the part of God's people if they are to receive His promised goodness.

    And unfortunately, the Promised Land could not be kept by the people, for they soon entered into idolatry and sin again. So, God, in His infinite mercy, promised another plan...

    "Lo, how a rose e'er blooming, from tender stem hath sprung! Of Jesse's lineage coming, as men of old have sung. It came, a flower bright, amid the cold of winter, when half-spent was the night." -Lo, How a Rose e'er Blooming

    Welcome to Advent! We currently find ourselves in the season of Advent, a penitential season of waiting in joyful hope (Titus 2;13) for the coming of Jesus Christ, the Promised Messiah.  Not only do we commemorate the first coming of Christ at Christmas, two millennium ago, but we look forward to and ready ourselves for the second coming of Christ, when He will finally bring us as a pure and spotless sacrifice to the Father, so that we can forever live with Him, our true Promised Land.

    Here in this season, we are reminded of the wilderness we find ourselves in-- as if we need much of a reminder. There are few places in the United States and in the world that you do not find people wandering through the desert of life, trying unsuccessfully to sustain their earthly needs and spiritual realities by grasping for temporary illusions.

    "What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun?... I have seen everything that is done under the sun; and behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind." -Ecclesisastes 1:3, 14

    But in this wilderness, we have been given life. Jesus has come to us as a rose amidst thorns, sprouting from the tender stem of Our Lady as beauty in the midst of pain. In the midst of the wilderness, the Lord brings us to lush pastures, to green gardens, to life.

    "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want; He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters; He restores my soul... Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil; for you are with me... You prepare a table before me... my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever." -Psalm 23

    Where there is water, there is life. It is for this reason that God shows us rivers and gardens throughout Sacred Scripture, for we long for life in the wilderness. And in the city of Jesus Christ, the Lamb, the rose amidst thorns, those who are pure and recreated by the passion of the Lord can receive of this water of life.

    "And in the Spirit he [an angel] carried me away to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God... nothing unclean shall enter it, nor any one who practices abomination or falsehood, but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life. Then he showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month; and the leaves of the tee were for the healing of the nations." -Revelation 21:10, 27, 22:1-2.

    During these first weeks of Advent, I've been noticing very often themes of rivers and gardens of life amidst the wilderness, and I think if you pay attention to the mass and the prayers of the Church, you will too. These are only a few snippets of the story of the Lord for His people, of the life which He desires for us as we journey through the deserts of this world. I wish I could tell you more, but it's finals week right now, and I can't write forever. You, dear reader, are also probably very tired of reading.

    To conclude: The Father has such good things for us-- He has given us His own Son for our salvation, to be brought to fullness of life in Him. If you want to receive this, humbly ask the Holy Spirit to recreate you, that in holiness you may enter the kingdom of life in Christ. Ask our Lady to fill you with the graces of the Holy Spirit, that you may faithfully choose the Lord of life with all your heart, soul, and strength.

    "Isaiah 'twas foretold it, the rose I have in mind. With Mary we behold it, the virgin mother kind. To show God's love aright, She bore to men a savior, when half-spent was the night." -Lo How a Rose e'er Blooming