Confirmation Lenten Reflections

In our confirmation class on March 2nd, we studied Ash Wednesday and Lent. We read two Gospel texts and compared them. The two texts were when Jesus is Tested in the Wilderness (Luke 4:1-13 and Matthew 4:1-11). We will share some of their wilderness reflections that resulted from this class time together.

My Wilderness

My wilderness is mostly scattered. Day after day, I’m in and out of the woods. I am sometimes on the verge of coming out of the woods, but sometimes I’m deep inside. For me, I feel bad for everyone. I overthink what’s going on in someone else’ life. I picture the worst ever. Like maybe someone has just lost a parent or friend. But they are hard to notice. People in the wilderness sometimes hide it. They aren’t totally ready to share. They are with themselves in the woods, alone. These people could be your neighbor, the person you sit next to on a bus, or just someone bump into. You never know who’s happy and who needs to be pulled out of the dark and lonely woods. My wilderness is for other people. I see people on the street who are in a dark time, and it drags me in. Seeing others struggle is hard, because you never know what’s wrong. An example would be maybe some students didn’t like a teacher and called them mean names behind their back. But maybe the teacher is in the wilderness because something sad and scary happened. Maybe a loved one died, and they have been lonely. It’s hard to recognize. I sympathize for people stuck in that phase. Too many people are in the wilderness.
-Anonymous, Grade 8

I went on a backpack trip last year and for the most part enjoyed it. So while on the trip we saw a lot of amazing things, but this one place was just amazing. We climbed onto a tree hanging over a cliff (kind of) and the view was amazing. But it was just so peaceful and made me forget all my worries and problems. -Anonymous, Grade 7

My idea of Wilderness
My understanding of wilderness is that it is a time that you could go through many times, or very few. It is a time of struggle and hopelessness. I think one of those times for the world is when it was in the thick of COVID and there was little hope. I was stuck doing school in my room, and that was like wilderness for me. I think that was for the world as a whole. But then there is a part after being in the wilderness, hope. I think wilderness could also be not exactly, when you’re sad, but when you are in a reset period. Like after Jesus was baptized. This is my idea of wilderness
-Audrey S., Grade 6

-Anonymous, Grade 7