God will surely come to you today, as God does every day, in the smile of a stranger, the giggle of a child, or the opening of a door. Recall a time in which God’s mystery was revealed to you in a flash, a moment of insight, awareness, or illumination. How can you be a glimmer of joy to those around you?

As we continue to do the work needed in the wilderness, we become aware of our own clutter of self-concerns and materialism that can suffocate our practical love for our sisters and brothers. The person we want to become sometimes doesn’t match who we are becoming. How can resting in joy help you to live a more purposeful life?

John the Baptist asks us to be sensitive to the wilderness of poverty around and among us. Responding by clothing the needy and sharing food with the hungry. We have become consumers of things, people, religion, and life. How can you restore your gratitude for the many gifts you have been given to make sure there is enough for everyone?

We who live in the mainstream are often blind to the sacred dignity of those on the margins. We carelessly apply labels, stereotypes, and expectations that diminish others. Emmanuel comes to us in the most unlikely circumstances and defies all of our tidy expectations. How can you lift up those feeling pain and loneliness and restore the joy of God-with-us?

John cried out “Prepare the way of the Lord.” Our conversion of heart looks to the future commitment and not merely to regret for the past. We focus on preparing a way for God to come into our hearts by intentionally seeking God’s presence already at work in our thoughts, prayers, and actions. How can you be a gentle herald of this good news?

In the wilderness, fear, self-doubt, guilt, regrets, disappointment, or wounds can keep us from living who we truly are and who we want to be. Recall someone you have diminished through your critical thoughts, words, gossip, actions, or inactions. How can you make the way smoother for others who find it difficult to travel with God because of our intolerant or erratic behavior?

The wilderness asks us to embrace the journey with all its twists, turns, joys and sorrows. Surrender and resist the urge to try and control everything. We have been living in the darkness of the myth of self-sufficiency only to recognize in the light that we need one another. How can you actively be a moment of light and hope for someone else who is waiting today?

We repent not because we are bad, defective or deficient, but because we are loved by God. We continue to learn the truth about how we see ourselves, the truth about the direction our life is heading and who we are becoming.  Regardless of what we see within ourselves, it is just information, a diagnosis; not a final judgement or conclusion. How is God reshaping and redirecting your life?

As we continue move in the wilderness, depart from the easy path and stand against the tide as Jesus did in loving kindness and deep reverence for all people. Where do you need to release the destructive outburst of “road rage” toward your sisters and brother?

As we sit in the wilderness, we are left in the tension of knowing and not yet knowing. Cutting out the sharp bends and treacherous bumps on our path to give us a clearer and safer view of what is ahead or approaching. What obstacles are keeping you from being whom God has called you to be?