March 2

Numbers 21: 4 – 9  

Link to Bible Verses: Numbers 21

Community: To what communities do you belong?

Yep, I might be grumbling too if I were wandering in the desert for 40 years. While I appreciate the beauty and fragile ecosystem of the desert, heat is not my friend. August and September in Colorado’s relentless sun and heat are my grumpy months. I know! In the eyes of an Alaskan, my lack of gratitude for the sun is an abomination, isn’t it?

Look at that complaining I did just now. Glad Juneau doesn’t have venomous snakes! (See, yet another reason to complain about the desert: deadly snakes.) Sometimes, if I’m not aware enough, I find it way too easy to slide into complaining, gossiping, silencing, or belittling. But what do those ways of being do to my communities, be that my family, my online community, my church community, or my work community? And what do they do to my spirit? As we know, denying or repressing our struggles or disagreements can be as damaging as responding to problems in harmful ways, so let’s learn from the Israelites’ missteps and commit to developing self-awareness and conflict skills for the betterment of our communities. Jesus offers a couple of tips, if you’re interested.

Thank you to Linda Land-Closson for writing our 2026 Lenten Devotions.