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Isaiah 49.8-15

Thus says the Lord: In a time of favor I have answered you, on a day of salvation I have helped you; I have kept you and given you as a covenant to the people, to establish the land, to apportion the desolate heritages; saying to the prisoners, “Come out,” to those who are in darkness, “Show yourselves.” They shall feed along the ways, on all the bare heights shall be their pasture; they shall not hunger or thirst, neither scorching wind nor sun shall strike them down, for he who has pity on them will lead them, and by springs of water will guide them. And I will turn all my mountains into a road, and my highways shall be raised up. Lo, these shall come from far away, and lo, these from the north and from the west, and these from the land of Syene.

Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth; break forth, O mountains, into singing! For the Lord has comforted his people, and will have compassion on his suffering ones. But Zion said, “The Lord has forsaken me, my Lord has forgotten me.” Can a woman forget her nursing child, or show no compassion for the child of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you.

One of the unexpected joys of COVID remote schooling in our household has been being able to eavesdrop on the classroom discussions of 8 year olds as they make sense of the world and themselves. I love sipping my morning chai in the living room while, behind a sliding door, Halcy and her classmates debate and then make decisions by playing rock-paper-scissors. Or, more recently, as they ponder what it means and how to be a change maker in the world.

In today’s reading, Isaiah reminds us: We are God’s children, and our Creator/Sustainer/Redeemer will not forget us or forsake us. He says, “To those who are in darkness Show yourselves… for the one who has pity on them will lead them, and by springs of water will guide them.”

In the past, I have thought about those in darkness as people in despair, weighted down by depression or sin. The kind of darkness that is within us. However, this year, with all that has happened and with the fresh voices of 8 year olds making sense of the world in my mind, I began to think of those in darkness as those who history or society has refused to acknowledge. As well as those who refuse to acknowledge and honor their existence. The kind of darkness that we, as a society, create and sustain.

In particular, I found myself thinking about the great personal sacrifices endured by civil rights and human rights change makers. I imagined the many change makers in history, the many bold and righteous spirits unseen, unknown, unappreciated. In darkness.
The Lord commands us to light. He says: Show yourselves. Come be nourished. I will comfort and restore you.
As we stand in this moment in time, dismantling the darkness piece by piece, individually and collectively, let us all be encouraged and emboldened by Isaiah’s words. Let us lean on our God. He is with us. Feeding us, comforting us, and guiding us to springs of hope and justice!

John 1.1-5

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.

Words, words, words, pages filled with words, word clouds, word walls, spewing words… As I’ve limped out of this election season--somewhat tattered and battered but thankfully recovering sleep, sanity, and slowly relationships—I’ve given a lot of thought to words and their purposes: To name. To communicate. To persuade. To obscure. To confuse. To encourage. To embolden.

In reading this scripture, the poetic opening cadence brought me back to Genesis with God calling forth creation, and this thought leapt out at me: Words give life, and we must be intentional about the life we wish to bring forth.

Indeed, I recently inscribed in my journal and my heart this prayer of Howard Thurman: “Lord, make me an instrument of Thy Peace. Teach me how to order my days with such sure touch that I may say the right word at the right time and in the right way—lest I betray the spirit of peace.” And, in recent moments fraught with tension, I meditated on this intention of being an instrument of God’s peace through my words.

But the scripture is not just about words, it is about the Word incarnate: Jesus! Who brings light everlasting, who overcomes all darkness! And Jesus is ultimately about Love.

So, in this new season – the season of Advent – perhaps we should put aside our words and instead open our hearts and minds to the love of Jesus.

Lord, let us set aside our own words and instead open our hearts to your Word coming alive inside us and among us. That we may radiate your love and peace in all that we are and all that we do.

Mark 4:35-41

³⁵ On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, ‘Let us go across to the other side.’ ³⁶And leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. Other boats were with him. ³⁷A great gale arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. ³⁸But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him up and said to him, ‘Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?’ ³⁹He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, ‘Peace! Be still!’ Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm. ⁴⁰He said to them, ‘Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?’ ⁴¹And they were filled with great awe and said to one another, ‘Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?’

Oh, how many times have I wished to be taken away from the crowded madness around me! From the demands of children, family and work; from today’s near constant attack on the environment, justice, and democracy; and from the voices inside myself judging my efforts and dampening my dreams. Please, Jesus, take me to the other side for just a little while and let me leave these crowds behind!

Reading this scripture, though, I was reminded of a moment when I yearned for the crowds, not the relief, and was unexpectedly taken to the other side.

At the time, I was younger and feeling very alone in NYC. My loneliness had grown so large and feverish that I did everything I could to avoid being by myself. On this day, I had joined a hiking meet-up group, looking forward to being in the woods (my happy place) and having some company. The group was extremely large, though, and the banter of 50+ people quickly drowned out the voice of nature. To make matters worse, the leader was a poor fit for the role: He disparaged slower hikers, reminding everyone of his need to catch a 3pm train back to Manhattan, and he failed to mark the turns. Our large group quickly splintered into several smaller groups based on pace. And though I was in the middle group, I was concerned that the slow group (including a woman who’d somehow lost the sole of her boot) would not be able to catch up and find their way. Thinking that I knew mine, I turned back to guide them.

But I made a wrong turn. At once, I had no idea where I was. I’d lost the group in front of me and behind. I had no cell service, and I was utterly alone.  I began to panic.

Then, I stopped! Sitting on a rock, I pulled out my lunch and breathed. I decided not to think for a while. A deer walked into the clearing and gazed at me. The light shimmered through the foliage like a waterfall. The leaves swirled lazily down to the ground. In that holy moment, it seemed that God was right there with me.

When I rose to leave, still not knowing how I’d get out of the woods, astonishingly, I immediately ran into the woman with the broken boot and her friend. The friend had managed to telephone her mother – who’d contacted the state police, and we were ‘rescued’ in minutes.

In the poetic irony of that day (seeking a crowd, finding God in solitude; trying to save someone with a broken sole who ended up saving me…), it was if God was saying to me, ‘Why are you afraid? Have you no faith?’ 

God’s ways are bigger and more glorious than we can imagine. Let us be still and allow Him to be with us.