John the Baptist typically kicks off the season of Advent,
proclaiming our need to repent in preparation for the birth of
Christ. But I turn to Luke 3 to begin our 2022 Lenten journey. This
devotion series is based on the Spanish poet Antonio Machado’s
poem “Walker.” Machado writes: “Walker, there is no road, the
road is made by walking.”
This line resonates because it feels as if there is no road in front
of us. The soil of our well-worn Lenten path has been overturned
by the pandemic. If we want to follow Christ this Lent, we’ll need
to prepare the way and make the road. We’ll need to rethink and
recreate our Lenten practices.
The poem’s phrase, “The road is made by walking,” suggests
that there is no road forward until we take the steps to create
it. It’s up to me, the walker, to forge the path. So, we will walk
with Jesus this Lent, keeping in mind that faith was never meant
to be a destination, but a journey — a never-ending, creating
and recreating, dying to the old and rising to the new, walk with
Christ. Let us step forward this Lent, doing the spiritual work of
straightening the crooked paths, filling in the valleys of despair,
removing the rough and mountainous obstacles so that, come
Easter, we shall see the salvation of God.
God our Companion, the future is uncertain, and we stand
poised before this season of Lent, unsure of this journey that
feels altogether new. As we step into this 40-day journey, help
us make a road that is straight and sure and free of obstacles.
Help us make a road for ourselves and others that leads us to
the salvation you offer to all weary travelers. Amen.