The Desert of Compassion: Devotions for the Lenten Journey (Rachel Srubas) - A Review
THE DESERT OF COMPASSION: Devotions for the Lenten Journey. By Rachel M. Srubas. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2023. 179 Pages.
The
Lenten season (as I write this review we are in the midst of that season) is
rooted in the story of Jesus' sojourn in the wilderness/desert. The
wilderness/desert is a common theme in Scripture. Moses and Elijah both spend
time in the desert, and in both cases, their desert experiences involved
fleeing from difficult situations at home. Moses also led people through the
wilderness to freedom. As for Jesus, according to the synoptic gospels, after
his baptism, the Spirit led Jesus into the desert where he faced three tests
that raised questions about his identity and his allegiance. “If you’re the son
of God,” the tempter put to Jesus, then turn stones into bread. If you give me
your allegiance I’ll give you the world to rule. Just submit to me. Of course,
Jesus says no, despite the hunger and thirst that comes with a desert experience
like this.
Christians
revisit the story of Jesus’ sojourn in the desert each year at Lent (at least
those of us who follow the church year/liturgical calendar). We’re told in the
Gospels that Jesus spent forty days and nights in the desert fasting and
praying. When the fast ended, but before he took nourishment, the Tempter came
and tested him. Traditionally, Christians find ways of emulating Jesus’s fast
by engaging in some form of fasting, while devoting time to prayer and study. At
least that’s the plan, whether we follow through or not. Many Lenten guides have
been produced over the years. Some are very time sensitive, and thus used once.
Others are designed to have a much longer shelf-life. Both kinds of guides are
useful, but Rachel M. Srubas’s The Desert of Compassion is one of the
latter kinds of guides. You can pick it up this year and again next year.
The
Desert of Compassion is the work of Rachel M. Srubas, the pastor of
Mountain Shadows Presbyterian Church (USA) in Tucson, Arizona. Serving as she
does in southern Arizona, Srubas understands the meaning of the desert. It’s
all around her. In creating this guide, Srubas draws on the images of the
desert, which she knows so well, to provide the reader/spiritual seeker, with a
rich devotional book that begins with Ash Wednesday and ends with the Triduum (Maundy
Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday).
Srubas
describes the book's orientation as a journey through a desert guided by a
"compass of compassion." That compassion theme is present throughout
the book. As we set out on this journey through the desert, Srubas offers a reflection
each day of the week from Monday through Saturday that invites us to reflect on
God’s compassion. Then on Sundays, she provides a “Sabbath Rest Stop” that
introduces the following week’s theme. The devotion for each day includes a
Scripture text followed by an interpretative piece in italics that she suggests
is an “imagined divine voice” After these two pieces introduce the theme of the
day we find a reflection on the day's reading and closing prayer. Most
reflections are approximately two and a half to three pages in length.
Srubas titles
the first set of readings that run from Ash Wednesday through the first
Saturday of Lent "Lent's Early Days: Go to the Land that I Will Show
You." That title suggests something Abrahamic is about to take place.
According to Srubas, the message here is that "Hard times convey a summons
to the desert, where compassion flourishes." Having established a
direction in these earliest readings, when we begin the first full week, the
theme is "Remove the Heart of Stone," with the focus being on
readings that speak to the theme: "In the human heart capable of feeling,
compassion deepens." In Week two—Reach out your hand—we consider the
message that "Connecting with people wounded by life makes compassion
possible" Then in Week three— "Stay Awake with Me" —she speaks
of compassion requiring "distress tolerance, which practice
strengthens." In setting the theme for the week, Srubas writes that
"if you're wounded, you're called to be healed; when you're healed, you're
called to compassion for the wounded." That is, our woundedness is the
source of our compassion (p. 70). We move to week 4 which focuses on "Your
Whole Mind," where Mindful awareness and thoughtful reflection foster wise
compassion." Here, in the context of a book focusing on the contemplative
life, she reminds us that the life of the mind might not be everything, but it
is nonetheless important—for we are to love God with our mind. We continue into
week 5, where the theme is "Do not condemn" for "condemnation
stymies grace, but compassion dismantles shame and fosters healing." She
notes that the word “condemn” essentially serves as a declaration of “Go to
Hell” and “Hell is no place to live.” Therefore, she writes that she has
devoted the Lenten journey and her life “to Jesus and his teaching that the
kin-dom of God is at hand, here and now.” Therefore, our calling is to point
toward God’s compassion (p. 121).
The
book concludes with the reflections for Holy Week beginning with a Palm Sunday
Rest Stop that introduces us to the reflections that follow. As we enter this
final week of the journey Srubas reminds us that the “traditional Lenten
practices of fasting, prayer, and giving
to help impoverished people have always been intended to ground Christian’s
spiritual lives in practical loving-kindness toward neighbors. When you act to
alleviate a neighbor’s suffering without presuming to prejudge their worthiness
of care, you do your part to realize God’s beloved community” (p. 148). She
notes that in the final group of devotions for Holy Week, the readers will
“consider compassion as a practical action that redresses neighbors’ suffering”
(p. 149).
Holy
Week, after the Palm Sunday Rest Stop, begins with a word for Holy Monday that
speaks of the “thread of creativity.” The focus of this first reflection draws
on the stories of Tabitha and Lydia. Regarding Lydia, the divine voice declares
that Lydia seamlessly “interweaves her garment business with my mission of
clothing the naked in beauty. When they are dignified, I am glorified.” She
uses the program of Little Dresses for Africa as an expression of sewing
as a form of Tikkun Olam” Pp. 150-151). We move from that reflection
through Tuesday and Wednesday and finally to Maundy Thursday, where the theme
is the washing of the feet. In this reflection Srubas notes that “compassion is
not only a tenderhearted feeling. It’s more, even, than an ethical choice. At
its most richly incarnate, compassion is a way of life that reverences living
beings and acts to alleviate their suffering without fetishizing it” (p. 164). The
journey ends with the Triduum, the three days that run from Maundy Thursday
through Holy Saturday. Here Srubas speaks a word that "through suffering
and death, new life and compassion arise." She closes the book with this
word: "By the overflow of God's loving-kindness, may you find you have
been given all you need to live with compassion for yourself and for every
living being." (p. 169). The message is clear, the journey of Lent leads
to compassion, which reflects God's love. As we look around at the world, we
see the need for compassion for ourselves and the entirety of creation.
For
those looking for a daily devotional for Lent, Rachel Srubas’ The Desert of Compassion should be at the top of the list. It does seem as if Westminster
John Knox Press produces excellent devotional resources each year. They can be
revisited year after year or rotated, but they are always good. This book is no
different. While this is designed to be used during Lent, in many ways the need
for compassion is so great it could be used at any point in the year since the
call for compassionate living will never go away, as it is the essence of God’s
realm.
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