And so the journey to Jerusalem begins.

Scripture says that ‘Jesus set his face resolutely toward Jerusalem” (Luke 9:51). I have been so aware of people’s journeys these days of Lent. Two wonderful friends of old have embraced their ‘Jerusalem’ as they deal with a new diagnosis of cancer and the husband moving deeper into Alzheimer. There is a resoluteness in both of them or as the Buddhists would say a ‘leaning into’ what has shown up in their lives. Neither of these friends knows what the path will entail. They don’t know what will be asked of them in their journeys. What they witness to is the resoluteness of faith that Jerusalem is the center of transformation for Jesus and for each of them.

The huge questions remain for them as they remained for Jesus: What do I need to do to prepare? Who will be there to help me in and through it all? Will I need chemo? How much surgery will this entail? How will I be able to pay for all the medical support that I need? Will I be angry when I can’t remember who I am? Will I know who I am or who my family is? Where is God in all of this?

People who face Jerusalem are resolute. They learn to listen to the messages within their experiences. They surrender, not to illness but to the transforming Love we call God. We learn to trust at levels beyond our wildest imaginations. We find meaning and purpose and direction within all that is asked of us. We open to being loved into being.

May our journey to Jerusalem and through Jerusalem be transformative and life-giving for you and for me.