Stephen Crane and Lent

Stephen Crane, best known for his novel, The Red Badge of Courage, also wrote poetry. His poem, "I Walked in a Desert," has some implications for our Lenten journey:

I walked in a desert.
And I cried,
"Ah, God, take me from this place!"
A voice said, "It is no desert."
I cried, "Well, But --
The sand, the heat, the vacant horizon."
A voice said, "It is no desert."

We should not wish ourselves out of our time of trial, our passage through the desert. If we see this time with the eyes of God, we have a different perspective. We see that suffering can open up other horizons for us. And anywhere we are, there God is, and we are not alone, not deserted.