From the poet: As I reflected on Jesus’ three temptations in the wilderness, I was drawn more and more to think about the setting, not just the content of the temptations. When I think about the ‘wilderness’ today, even the desert, it’s likely to be in the context of a vacation trip to see beautiful scenery, not a place of desperate struggle with the spiritual forces of the Enemy. Where, then, is our wilderness in which we are tempted?

"Technology in the wilderness" by Meliroo on Flickr

Temptation in the Wired Wilderness
by Holly Ordway

Our Lord spent forty days and forty nights
Resisting Satan in the wilderness.
We picture barren rocks and sand; we might
Add in a scrubby tree or two. I guess
That’s where temptation ought to come, so we
Can see it from at least a mile away,
And be prepared, with Bibles, church retreats,
And exhortations to stand firm.

Instead it wounds with cuts too small to see,
In this our wired wilderness. We play
And work in deserts of the digital:
Abuzz with locust-noise of clicks and tweets
And filled with lonely crowds. Our enemy
Is faced and fought right here, or not at all.

from the God and Nature magazine