The Anatomy of a Journey
Jill Carattini

The lections of Lent are full of God’s love of journeys: crossings from darkness into light, blindness to vision, the familiar to the unexpected, thirst to a place of provision; journeys beside still waters, through dark valleys and green pastures to a table prepared in the presence of enemies; pathways from Tyre through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee to a valley of dry bones, the tomb of a friend, and a well in Samaria.(1) Along the way, we are given constant reminders to keep watch and be alert. We hear in the stories of those before us that whatever journey on which we find ourselves, there are surely signs of God stirring, a kingdom emerging, and unexpected hope rising to life. “[T]he hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live” (John 5:25). God loves the very anatomy of a journey, not for the sake of perpetual motion, but for the sake of guidance and restoration the Spirit brings along the way. the rest image