Our Annual Retreat In The Wilderness

Originally designated as a period of spiritual preparation for Easter as early as the earliest decades of Christianity, Lent is a period of soul searching, reflections and re-organization. It is a season of forty days before Easter during which Christians are called to reflect upon their journey in this world as followers and imitators of Christ. The New Testament tells us that our Lord Himself regularly felt the need to retreat to the wilderness and separate Himself from the distractions of this world in order to focus on his spiritual journey and purpose in this world. Likewise we, Armenian Christians, are called to imitate our Lord and designated this annual season as a time of reflection on our purpose in life and the destination of our life journey, exploring our priorities in life, our objectives and goals, behavioral patterns and even interactions with each other. If any of the above do not have Christ and His teachings as the model and the focus then Lent is a time to reflect upon ways of changing them and making them more Christ-centered.

In Matthew 4:1 we read that Jesus went to the wilderness to retreat. In the wilderness there is no entertainment, no friends, and no scheduled daily activities to keep us busy. One thing is abundant: time to reflect, plan and choose our next action. In the biblical passage mentioned above, Christ was tempted to turn away from the Father, and to seek His own glory and pleasure denying God. Having retreated for 40 days and thought and prayed about it, Christ came out of it victorious and even stronger. Like the experience of our Lord, Great Lent is our annual retreat to our own wilderness. During Lent we try our best to minimize our unnecessary social engagements that usually clot our daily schedule leaving no time for us to think about ourselves. Disconnecting ourselves, as much as we realistically can, from the distractions of this world, we create our healthy wilderness for forty days.

Like our Lord, we also need to be realistic enough to face our personal temptations and challenge ourselves with questions about issues, priorities and behavioral patterns that have challenged our commitment to follow the Lord. Am I greedy? Selfish? Do I share part of the abundance that God has given me with those who are less fortunate than me? Do I spend more time chatting with friends on the Internet and browsing sites than “chatting with God”?

So, this Monday, February 27, why not make a commitment to join us and millions of Armenians and Christians all over the world as we venture to retreat to our own wildernesses with our Lord. Design your own wilderness: 1) minimize your social activities; 2) restrict your diet to healthy and traditionally non-dairy and non-meat products; 3) think and pray. I have no doubt that all of us will leave the wilderness at he end of the forty days stronger than before, having overcome at least some of the temptations that have been challenges in the path of our journey to follow the Lord. 

Have a blessed Great Lent.      

      In Christ’s Service
Vahan Dzayrakuyn Vartabed

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