Oh Crap! (BCP)

A voice came from heaven, "You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased." And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness.

Some of you have heard this story before, so you will have to forgive me for over using it. It was February of 2002 and I was at the Jubilee Conference, sitting in a break-out group for Christian college students studying business. The guy is making some good points (all of which I don't remember - I was preparing to propose to Cassie in mere hours) and then he asks us to find a partner. I sit down with somebody and the leader asks us to think silently for 2 minutes about a question before discussion with our partner.

A voice came from heaven, "Why are you studying business? Is it to further God's kingdom in some way, or to get money and buy stuff?"

And the Spirit immediately drove me out into the wilderness. The only thing I can remember running through my head at that time was "Oh Crap!" You see for 22 years "get money and buy stuff" had been an acceptable answer. Even though I was a Christian, I had at the core of me materialism and the goal of crushing fingers on the corporate ladder. I spent the next two hours sitting on a cold bench near Pittsburgh's Point Park trying to make sense of it all.

Jesus has been there. Mark tells of Jesus hearing the words of God (maybe for the first time - see Dogma), and immediately being driven into the wilderness. Jesus knows the confusion that comes from hearing the voice of God. Jesus knows the temptations that come when the opportunity to run away is out there. Jesus has been there before and Jesus made it through. Jesus through his Holy Spirit helped me make it through that time of great anxiety.