Because he is a poet, the images Isaiah uses are both beautiful and compelling. They evoke primal human experiences, like profound thirst. In fact, the most powerful image in this week's reading is water, and many commentators take note of the waters of creation, the waters of Red Sea, and, of course, waters in the desert--for the people wandering on the way to the Promised Land, the people on their way Back Home, and for all of us who thirst for justice and wholeness and peace.

Yes, the son wastes his inheritance on a good time in a distant land, but his father seems just as free and even wasteful in lavishing his wealth on a son who comes home not in sincere repentance but calculated self-interest.

Many of us may be attempting, with varying degrees of success, one kind of Lenten discipline or another. We can take heart in John Stendahl's observation that "to live faithfully with God in this covenant means to act and think in ways that will not come naturally to us. That is one reason that repentance is hard work, not automatic and instinctive."

Our Gospel reading offers rich material for our Lenten reflection this week: after all, this is the season for uncomfortable questions and hard truth--just what's needed to open our eyes and our hearts, and set our feet on the path of faithfulness.

We might be so distracted by what we're supposed to do during Lent, or intend to do, that we lose track of what the story's really about, and what God is doing out there, in the wilderness.

As usual, Peter is very much like many of us. We often try to talk our way into understanding, trying to process an experience so that we can absorb its meaning and make that meaning part of who we are.

What does it look like to "strike out into the deep," when we're tired and convinced that there are no more people interested in the good news we offer, especially when our popular culture offers such enticing invitations in other directions?

Perhaps the most moving--and therefore transformational-–way to read this text is to let it read us.