23. Wilderness

"Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing at all during those days, and when they were over, he was famished." Luke 4: 1-2

*****

In the days when

small towns were born

people banded together

for safety, food,

survival--

society meant life

and solitude, danger:

Wilderness meant death.

Forty days,

an eternity of combat

for life.

Yet it was you who made the wilderness

Breathed it with life.

So it occurs to me

in these days I live in when

small towns are dying

cities choked with starving people--

society can mean death

and solitude, safety:

Wilderness means survival.

And for me, forty days becomes, instead,

a preparation

time away to breathe in

nature's nourishment,

to combat for life

and win.

Which was it--

or was it both

for you?