...a word from Kathy

D o you remember the era of epic movies filmed in vast deserts?  I seem to remember an actor, maybe Omar Sharif, crawling through the sands, fraught with thirst, and through his blurry vision sees an oasis.  As he continues his crawl, the oasis, filled with pure water is but a mirage.  But do not fret he is soon found, and his thirst is quenched!  And his wounds, thirst, and sunburn are attended.  The film makers of that era always seemed to float an oasis that was soon revealed to be only a mirage. As Jesus’ desert time ended, he too, is attended.  And it was no mirage. Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him. Matthew 4:11 NIV I love the use of the word attended in this translation. Upon consultation with the all-knowing GOOGLE, I asked,  what does it mean to attend someone? “The verb attend means to be present, to listen, or give care of attention to.” What a beautiful picture of the love and care that Jesus received from the angels...

N ew relationships are usually filled with a lot of chatter, and stories of our beginnings.  We share funny moments, historical moments, hard moments, and all moments that molded us into our current state.  Then as the relationship grows and matures, the words may become less.  And it’s enough to just be in the other’s presence.  Together but without words.  A quiet zone of space and love. After thirty-some years of life and chatter, Jesus entered the quiet desert.  And we only learn of spoken words after his 40 days and nights.  During the forty days, we have no idea of what was said or not said but we read that he was alone.  I wonder what Jesus thought about, what he experienced in the quiet of the desert.  His desert seemed as though it was a preparation for His next steps.  His desert was all-consuming and gave Him a renewal for life ahead. Is a desert visit a pilgrimage?  Is it in this place that we can hear most clearly? ...

T here are all sorts of ifs in our lives.  We live a lot of life under the if mindset.  Whether overtly stated or   not, we hear the undertones of the if statement.  If you love me, you’ll help me.  If you love me, you’ll clean up the kitchen tonight.  If you love me, you’ll buy me that new dress.  If you loved me, you’d never have let me get into this mess. The devil uses a similar strategy.  Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “ If     you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written: “‘He will command his angels concerning you,  and they will lift you up in their hands,  so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’” Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’” Matthew 4:5-7 This is the “show me your God” moment or maybe the playground bully, yelling “prove it.”  We may all have witnesse...

M y mother used to say, I’m so hungry that I’m about to cave in!  We’d laugh and tease her about her words.  But now, years later, I realize I often experience this same feeling.  I'm hungry for a food that eludes me, I too feel that I may cave in! Today, we again return to the desert.  The desert is hot, unrelenting in sun exposure, sandy and uncomfortable to say the least.  Our eyes are struggling to see through the glare, our bodies are sunburnt and aching, the exhaustion is real.  And the desert nights are almost too cool, and frightening as the silence is overbearing and only broken by the howls of wildlife and stealthy critters that stir the sand around us.  After two weeks in the desert of Lent 2024, are you thirsty or hungry yet?  Are you about to cave in?       And He had fasted for forty days and forty nights, and that left     him, of course, in a state of extreme hunger, which the Devil took advantage of in the...