In today's gospel (Luke 4:1-13), Jesus is tempted by the devil after fasting in the desert. While an oversimplification, it seems that these temptations are suggesting Jesus assume identities other than his own. Whatever our understanding of the "mission" of Jesus, seeking power, wealth and self satisfaction are at extreme odds with the person we see in the gospels. In these temptations, Jesus is in effect asked to be someone he knows he is not.
While reflecting on today's readings, I wondered about the person I've become. Am I being true to myself? If I'm honest, I have to admit the face I see reflected in my mirror is not always the face I present to the world. The pressures of modern life have persuaded me to become (at least at times) someone I would rather not be. My job and relationships have shaped me into a man not wholly of my own making. Honestly, I have to admit I find this situation disturbing but not immutable.
Lent seems a good time to reflect upon this self imposed dichotomy. I have to believe I can start to make small changes and adopt new ways of seeing and acting to become a truer reflection of the man I desire to be. I can resist at least some of the myriad of temptations to compromise my integrity in order to have an easier path to tread. Being truer to my own understanding of self may indeed mean by Easter I will be a bit closer to (or at the very least better understand) who I really am.
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