(I am sorry I have not posted for so long but life has indeed been a bit hectic and challenging lately and every time I thought I'd be able to sit down and write the time had to be used for something else. I will try to be more consistent about writing at least weekly ongoing. Thanks for your patience.)
Is 2:1-5
This is what Isaiah, son of Amos,
saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.
In days to come,
the mountain of the LORD’s house
shall be established as the highest mountain
and raised above the hills.
All nations shall stream toward it;
many peoples shall come and say:
“Come, let us climb the LORD’s mountain,
to the house of the God of Jacob,
that he may instruct us in his ways,
and we may walk in his paths.”
For from Zion shall go forth instruction,
and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
He shall judge between the nations,
and impose terms on many peoples.
They shall beat their swords into plowshares
and their spears into pruning hooks;
one nation shall not raise the sword against another,
nor shall they train for war again.
O house of Jacob, come,let us walk in the light of the Lord!
I love Advent! The scripture readings are all so full of hope and wonder. We need hope and wonder. We need true awe before the wonderful love of God. We live in such a world of neon lights, fast moving games, instant everything, that we have to go a distance to have a WOW factor all too often. When everything is in caps, or everything is in hyperbole, nothing stands out. In our high speed, high tech glitzy world, the power of awe before God can get lost so easily if we are not awake to it. We have seen all kinds of light shows and special effects so we aren't as likely to stand before a sunset with silent and reverent awe; yet in this "stillness is the dancing," the dancing that is our soul's breath. It is in the quiet that the still soft Voice speaks truth to our hearts and wins us over. In the noisy world of distractions we need to find a quiet corner in which to wait with hope, trusting to be awed by the God Who Comes like a Lover leaping mountains to reach us.
The verses above from Isaiah are familiar passages but let us hear them anew, with fresh ears and with a deep awe before the God who reveals himself in them.
In days to come,
the mountain of the LORD’s house
shall be established as the highest mountain
and raised above the hills.
A time will come when the house of the Lord, the place where God dwells, will be the pinnacle of all. A time will come when nonsense won't reign supreme. Yes, a time will come when the sacred and the holy will be revered by all or at least most. A time will come when we will come to our senses and recognize God as God and the house of God as the tabernacle of our souls. There are those who would and do say that such a hope is frivolous and itself nonsensical. The words of scripture take a different view.
All nations shall stream toward it;
many peoples shall come and say:
“Come, let us climb the LORD’s mountain,
to the house of the God of Jacob,
that he may instruct us in his ways,
and we may walk in his paths.”
The word of the Lord reveals hope for all hearts to come home to the instruction of God. Can we imagine a world in which all nations stream toward the mountain of God? A world in which the guidance of God is gleefully and nearly universally sought? Deep sigh, won't it be wonderful! We need to walk in the path of God because it is only on this path that we will find our true self. We were made by God and we will never be fully home until we are joined to God fully, and it isn't necessary that we die to be fully united with God. We were made for union with not separation from God. Hear what I just said: we were created to be united fully to God. God is at our core our true "soul mate." May this Advent our desire for God mirror a fraction of God's desire for us and we will be overwhelmed with spiritual ecstasy.
For from Zion shall go forth instruction,
and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
He shall judge between the nations,
and impose terms on many peoples.
They shall beat their swords into plowshares
and their spears into pruning hooks;
one nation shall not raise the sword against another,
nor shall they train for war again.
O house of Jacob, come,let us walk in the light of the Lord!
A day will come when we will finally "get it" and stopping thinking there are reasons we need to kill each other. God's word goes forth and changes us, but really heals us to be who we have always been created to be, true children of God. As we open ourselves to grace, we won't need to wield any swords. We stop needing to be right and have a greater need to be kind and forgiving. We move from the stiffness of self-righteousness to the fluidity of compassion.
Think about it. Think how much blood has been spent on the need to be right, on the presumption that my truth is truer than your truth. Think about how much blood has been spilled "defending God," or more correctly our current image of God. How prideful of us to think that God needs our protection. How patiently God waits for us to "come around" to what our souls have always known. These deeper truths that are essential are not known so much with the head as they are savored and celebrated with the heart.
If we stop tearing down, we have the energy to build each other up. If we stop wielding swords and cutting each other to pieces, we can plow the land and yield a harvest of peace. We can use the gifts within us to fertilize the land with hope and to bless with joy. If we can ever get past our fears and our "justified" anger, we can work the land rather than destroy it. Having been at the front lines of medicine for so many years now, I keep seeing folks who not only refuse to be healed but who are forever rubbing salt in their own wounds and then complaining about the depth of their suffering.
The way of hope is a way of yielding to grace. Advent reminds us to wait with hope and to yield with confidence. Somehow we are forever thinking that justice is about making sure everyone gets the same size slice of the pie which is obviously silly when we are at a banquet table that is overflowing with food. So very little of what we obsess and fight about means anything at all in terms of Real Life. We seems to be more comfortable with the wound with which we are familiar than the healing that is mystery to us, even at the same time as we pray to be lifted from our suffering.
Advent begins a new year of hope, we can choose new paths, we can let go of old wounds. We don't need to be right all the time or at all really. We just need to be healed by the Love already given to us. We just need to be open to the Light that has already come to lead us out of darkness. We aren't even asked to throw out our swords or spears but to "repurpose" them. All that energy that we wasted in fighting with each other is now to be redirected to planting blessings rather than curses, to honing each other's gifts rather than tearing each other down.
Let us allow grace to infiltrate us and infect us with holy hope and sacred joy. Let us embrace the season that prepares for the celebration of Christmas as a gift in itself rather than as a chore to be endured. Christmas has become big business, but before it was a season, it was a miracle that changed the world. Advent with all its wonderful readings reminds us how we waited for and received such a miracle as the Son of God who is the Son of Man. Advent reminds us of the possibilities that lie before our yielding hearts, possibilities of endless miracles of union with the divine. Imagine and rejoice in awe and wonder. Amen.
God bless.
