Mtr Taylor Devine

Dear Friend,

In today’s Gospel from Matthew we hear good news for the conflict-averse and those quite comfortable in conflict. Jesus’ insists on healthy and compassionate conflict in community, framed by two of the most comforting pericopes in scripture! “If a shepherd has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. So it is not the will of your Father in heaven that one of these little ones should be lost.” The Good Shepherd accounts for all of his sheep. “For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.” Divine presence even in times of challenge.

As I work my way through a (new to me) book, “Backpacking with the Saints,” I find this same comfort offered through Saintly histories and ordinary paths (and stumbles) of life. Lane writes the following synopsis of one pattern of spiritual life that feels familiar in the hard work of community and personal life. Do you resonate with this pattern?

The pattern of this spirituality, as I’ve argued, beings with (1) departure from the world of restless activity, with venturing out onto the trail and being disillusioned enough to identify the deepest longing for our quest. The comes (2) the need to adopt a discipline - learning to accept solitude, to ravel light, and to practice the mindfulness required to negotiate the trail. Inevitably along the way the wanderer also makes (3) a descent into darkness and despair. Lost in the wilderness, we wrestle with fear, failure, and an ultimate dying to everything that is unimportant. Yet in the end, there is reemergence into life and (4) delight. Having endured the desert ordeal, the traveler returns with a new gift of discernment, a richer sense of community, a hunger for justice, and the hilarity of holy folly (no longer having to take ourselves so seriously). These are the gold the adventurer brings back from the wild places of the psyche. (p. 153)

In the seasons that feel like departure, or descent, may we know the Good Shepherd’s care and presence among us.

In Christ,
Mtr. Taylor