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He is Here – in the Wilderness

He is Here – in the Wilderness

Over this Advent season in preparation of our heart and minds for Christmas we will be reflecting on the tag line – He is Here – and ways in which that is witnessed in our human experience.

He is here – in the valley; in the wilderness; in the storm; always

Well this Advent we remind ourselves again of the miracle of the incarnation – God in the flesh. The word incarnation means “the act of being made flesh,” and is seen in John 1:14 “The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us.”

Transition: There is a book that sits pride of place in my library. It is a first edition (1975) copy of The World of Olegas Truchanas by Max Angus. Truchanas, a Lithuanian émigré, is best known as an adventurer and wilderness photographer (and mentor of Peter Dombrovskis).

Olegas is renowned for his standing-room only slide presentations at the Hobart Town Hall which, over 20 years, brought ever-increasing attention to the island’s unique wilderness. In particular, he captured on film the pink quartz inland beach and tea-coloured water of Lake Pedder before it was drowned by a fiercely protested hydro-electric scheme.

These are the images that I recall when I think of wilderness. As Olegas Truchanas would portray images of the wilderness so we could understand what we needed to preserve, the writers of Scripture continually returned to the wilderness experience of the nation of Israel to remind them of the lessons learned.

Psalm 136:16 To Him who led His people through the wilderness, For His lovingkindness is everlasting;
Hosea 13:5 I cared for you in the wilderness, In the land of drought.
Jeremiah 2:6 They did not say, ‘Where is the LORD Who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, Who led us through the wilderness, Through a land of deserts and of pits, Through a land of drought and of deep darkness, Through a land that no one crossed And where no man dwelt?’
Acts 13:18 For a period of about forty years He put up with them in the wilderness.
Romans 15:4 For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.