Lent Meditation Day 18
Early one morning, while waking with his disciples, Jesus got hungry.
A Note from Ruth
These meditations are a reflection of my personal journey through Lent at a time when I was experiencing deep spiritual growth and learning what it means to grow in community as a student at the Academy for Formation and Mission. In part, I wrote them to process my own thoughts, but mainly to share those contemplations, because I felt they were meant to be experienced by others. My hope was to encourage others to go deep, to see God and Lent with a new perspective, and to self-reflect in a way that brings hope.
He approached a fig tree hoping to find fruit, but there was none. Jesus put a curse on the fig tree, and it withered. A curse? Jesus?
What does this mean to us, then? Some would say that if we don’t produce good deeds, Jesus will curse us. I disagree with them.
I look at this parable as a blessing in disguise. Maybe the fig tree represents a part of who we are, a part that is not healthy. If that is the case, it is a good thing to have it wither. I think Jesus removes from us the things that do not serve us well and that allows room for healthy growth and spiritual transformation.
Again we see an illustration of allowing a part of ourselves to die, and that is not easy, but it is not final either. It’s like the seed that is planted deep into the ground and dies, only to rise again to a new and productive life.
Amen.