For All Who Journey
Table Talk
Setting the Table
You are welcome here. Come just as you are, bringing whatever is on your heart today. Take a few moments and allow yourself to just be. Take a couple deep breaths, grab yourself a cup of coffee, light a candle, do something that brings you comfort. Allow yourself to be present in this moment.
Consider what it might mean for you to understand your wilderness experiences through a lens of openness, wonder, and surrender, rather than fear and trepidation.
People who empty themselves in the wilderness always meet a God who is greater than they would have dared to hope.
- Richard Rohr
Into the wilderness, I go to lose my mind and find my soul.
- John Muir
Matthew 11:7-9
As they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John: ‘What did you go out into the wilderness to look at? A reed shaken by the wind? What then did you go out to see? Someone dressed in soft robes? Look, those who wear soft robes are in royal palaces. What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet.’
Food for Thought
Wilderness experiences come in so many shapes and sizes. There are times when we journey into the wilderness with intention, looking for rest and reflection — for solitude and renewal; and then sometimes the wilderness comes to us when we really don’t want it. Most often, wilderness is wide and wild and completely unpredictable.
In the wilderness, we find ourselves utterly vulnerable to life as we dreamed it would be or thought it never would be. We birth life, and grieve loss, learning to walk and live without those we thought would always be here. And many of us pray more fervently, although we may be unaware of it at the time.
We struggle to know what to do with our wilderness spaces and experiences. We use words like “wild” and “forbidden” to describe it, but what if our discomfort with wilderness isn’t actually a problem with the wilderness at all but rather with us — with our interpretations of it — with our stereotypes of such places as places of exile or spaces of lifelessness?
The wilderness reminds us that things usually aren’t as simple or as one-dimensional as we might wish they were. Do we call it wild because we haven’t figured out how to conquer it? Do we find it forbidden because we simply do not understand it? The wilderness can be trying and terrifying, but the wilderness can also be renewing and restorative.
The call of the wilderness — when we are in the midst of it — asks us to think more deeply, more broadly, and more honestly about the ways these wilderness places and experiences open us up to God. It asks us to notice that we are never alone, even in the wide, wild spaces.
The wilderness is a place where we can’t rely on the familiar, which can seem like a hardship, but it might also be an invitation — an invitation into the full reality of our existence, an invitation into the truth and beauty of our vulnerability, an invitation to be held and carried by the faithfulness of God who sees.
Jesus asks, “What do you go into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? A priest in soft clothes?”
No — we go to see the one who prepares the way;
the one who moves through the wilderness with hope;
the one that baptizes and calls us to repentance;
the one who meets us in our wilderness spaces with words of life;
the one holding us even when we cannot stand on our own.
Over and over, God’s people are led out of the wilderness to springs that flow with water, and somehow, there is enough sustenance for all who journey there. All manner of life find a home amidst the untamed terrain, because God holds all creation in life-giving balance.
As we move through our own wilderness spaces, we find our hope in the promise that this is true for us, too. That the God who sees also meets us and carries us along this wilderness journey.
All of us.
Take a daily or weekly walk outside, intentionally noticing the “wild” or unexpected in your surroundings — a tangled branch, a rough path, the wind moving through trees. As you walk, imagine God holding you through the unpredictable wilderness of life.
Create a small notebook dedicated to your “wilderness experiences.” Each day, write down something in your life that feels uncertain, hard, or unfamiliar, and reflect on one way you sense God holding or guiding you in that experience, even if subtly.
For a printable version of today's reflection Click Here!
Blessing
God in the Wilderness,
Be with us as we journey through the places that feel uncertain, wild, or overwhelming. Help us to notice your presence and trust that you hold us even when we feel lost or afraid; to lean into the ways these spaces can teach and transform us; and to find you moving with us, guiding us, and meeting us in the midst of our wandering.
Amen.
A little Table Talk for your table...
Can you think of a time when you were in a “wilderness” — a situation that felt uncertain, scary, or confusing? How did God or someone else help you feel held during that time?
Wilderness isn’t just a place of fear or difficulty. How might your understanding of a challenging situation change if you see it as a place where God can meet you? Talk about the most positive thing you have discovered about yourself or God during one of these times.
What are some small ways you can notice or respond to God’s presence when life feels unpredictable or “wild"? How might you carry that awareness into your everyday routines?
Try taking it to the Kids Table...
Can you think of a time when something was scary or confusing? How did God or someone you trust help you feel safe?
Sometimes hard or wild situations can teach us or help us grow. Can you think of a time when something that felt hard ended up helping you in some way?
How can you remember that God is with you when things feel uncertain or strange? What is one small thing you could do today to notice God’s help?
Meet This WEek’s Writer...
The Welcome Table Team - We are “The Bunce Girls!” Originally from Lexington, North Carolina, we were raised surrounded by music, justice, and faith. We spent most of our Sunday afternoons gathered around an open table with family and friends where the food was plentiful, stories and laughter connected our hearts, and where the presence of each individual was held sacred. It’s those moments that have inspired The Welcome Table.
To hear more from the TWT Team throughout the week, follow along on our Instagram!