Good morning…
“It’s Advent, which usually means a season of hope,” my husband wrote yesterday in his chaplain message for Lovett School subscribers. “Unfortunately, this has been a tough year for hope. It’s been difficult to feel the certainty of a better future when 2020 seems to be stuck in a pattern of bad news followed by more bad news; a sea of cancellations, rising positive Covid tests, masks, limited social interaction, loss of familiar traditions and more.”
“As I read this week’s lectionary text from the prophet Isaiah I could feel his pain,” writes Steve. “He too lived during a time of bad news followed by more bad news. In response to all that he was experiencing his words show a longing for a day when God would bring an end to all the sadness and disappointment that seemed to surround him on every side. He seemed desperate to return to the days when the people would once again experience the peace and joy they once had before their current circumstances.”
O that you would tear open the heavens and come down, so that the mountains would quake at your presence… that you would work for those who wait on you… and make your name known to your adversaries, so that the nations might tremble at your presence! – Isaiah 64:1-2
“I can identify with Isaiah’s longing for a day when God will come down out of the heavens, work for those who wait on him and fix the brokenness of 2020,” Steve admits. “As I wait on God, the way Isaiah waited, I decided to write this week’s devotional as an homage to the prophet; a plea for help in recognition of all that we’ve lost in 2020, with an eye towards all that we hope to regain in 2021.”
Dear God:
Oh that you would tear open the heavens and come down restoring to our lives some sense of normalcy
That one day
We will again be in school without face masks, in classrooms without protocols
That one day
We will watch our favorite sports teams without the threat of cancellation
That one day
We will go to church in person, see friends and sing at the tops of our lungs
That one day
We will shake hands, greet with hugs and stand less than 6 feet apart
That one day
We will go to our favorite restaurants – sit inside – use an actual menu – listen to music – and talk about something other than the coronavirus
That one day
We will once again be able to lick our fingers after eating wings or ribs without fearing for our lives
That one day
We will use a gas pump without wondering whose hands were on it just before ours
That one day
We will be able to celebrate the life of a loved one who has passed, gathering together to pay tribute to a life well lived
That one day
We will again go to weddings with family and friends and dance with reckless abandon at the receptions that follow
That one day
We will fly without fear
That one day
A Zoom meeting will be but a distant memory and a quarantine will be something reserved for astronauts who return from their time in space
That one day
When we cough, we won’t immediately feel the glares of people nearby
That one day
We will eat in the cafeteria, worship in the chapel, watch plays and concerts in the theater
That one day
We will celebrate holidays by gathering around our tables with large numbers of extended family
“This Advent season may we feel the hope that the birth of Christ brings to our world,” Steve concludes. “That we might live with the confidence that we will again experience all the things we once knew and loved. In the meantime, may we know the Peace and Joy of God’s presence with the assurance of the prophet Isaiah.”
Lord you are the potter, we are the clay – We are all your people and the work of your hands. – Isaiah 64:8
…Sue…
