Hello, Bridgetown Church and all of you joining us online.

My name is Bethany and this is the Bridgetown Daily for Thursday, February 4.

Last fall I did a study around this idea of the wilderness, particularly as it exists

in the scriptures.

Now, it's something I've known about and thought about for years, whether it be in seminary

or in Bible studies.

But as I was prepping for a class around silence and solitude, I realized that I didn't

know as much as I wanted to.

In fact, I came to understand that my perception of it was quite off.

The wilderness is a theme we see all throughout the scriptures, old and new testament alike.

From Abraham to Moses to Jesus in the Apostles, the wilderness is something you can't escape

when reading the scriptures.

Now, there's tons that can be said about it.

But what has particularly stood out to me is how often we, those of us who have been in

the church or followed Jesus for a while, have viewed the wilderness.

Most assume it's this gnarly, tough place, one that all Christians must experience at

some point or another.

It's a bit of a right of passage, but not really one you want to take.

It's often viewed as the place where we suffer or hold on or even white knuckle it, even

a place where we endure the absence of God's presence.

And while it can certainly be and feel like all of those things, I've been wondering if

that is what the desert was really intended to be.

...