Isaiah 35:1 - 10
The desert and the parched land will be glad;
the wilderness will rejoice and blossom.
Like the crocus, it will burst into bloom;
it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy.
The glory of Lebanon will be given to it,
the splendor of Carmel and Sharon;
they will see the glory of the LORD,
the splendor of our God.
Strengthen the feeble hands,
steady the knees that give way;
say to those with fearful hearts,
“Be strong, do not fear;
your God will come,
he will come with vengeance;
with divine retribution
he will come to save you.”
Then will the eyes of the blind be opened
and the ears of the deaf unstopped.
Then will the lame leap like a deer,
and the mute tongue shout for joy.
Water will gush forth in the wilderness
and streams in the desert.
The burning sand will become a pool,
the thirsty ground bubbling springs.
In the haunts where jackals once lay,
grass and reeds and papyrus will grow.
And a highway will be there;
it will be called the Way of Holiness;
it will be for those who walk on that Way.
The unclean will not journey on it;
wicked fools will not go about on it.
No lion will be there,
nor any ravenous beast;
they will not be found there.
But only the redeemed will walk there,
and those the LORD has rescued will return.
They will enter Zion with singing;
everlasting joy will crown their heads.
Gladness and joy will overtake them,
and sorrow and sighing will flee away.
For several days now I have not chosen to offer a meditation on Isaiah's prophecy, choosing the Gospel readings instead. Today I come back to his prophetic words, because they reinforce the preparations made yesterday by John the Baptist in our New Testament reading.
In Isaiah 35:1 - 10 you'll notice a heavy dose of "desert-language": "wilderness," "parched land," "burning sand," "thirsty ground" and "haunts."
The desert or the wilderness represents the place where there is no blossom and bloom, the place which is arid, dry, waterless. It is where "lions" and "ravenous beasts" dwell, where jackals make their home. The desert can be a beautiful place, but it is also a dangerous place, a place where life is lived on the edge.
In spiritual literature, the desert is often contrasted to the city. The contrast in ancient life was significant. Cities and towns grew up around water sources . . . rivers and wells. They were fortified by city walls which provided protection from both wild animals and invading tribal armies. In the cities, resources were gathered to a central location and more accessible than in the desert.
But in terms of formation, the desert gets a lot of play in spirituality. Spiritual traditions emphasize the importance of desert as a necessary place on the spiritual journey. And my experience has been that the more mystical persons among us tend to emphasize the desert most of all.
If the city is a place where resources are readily available, the desert represents the place where the usual resources are not available. You have to find resources in other ways. And here's the key: in the desert, you have to find resources you didn't know you had. You have to access resources that aren't readily apparent.
If we translate that thinking to our spirituality, I would say that in the desert we have to find the resources that are present within ourselves, because while we're in the desert, the resources are not present in the outer world. We must find them in the inner world.
Who among us isn't familiar with some kind of desert in life. We've all walked there. We've all felt dry, lifeless and waterless. We've felt surrounded by the ravenous beasts of disease and job-loss and betrayals. We've been disoriented and lacking direction to go on.
Messiah, the One who shows us the way, not only is our Resource, but shapes our inner resources so that we can survive and flourish in the deserts of life. This is the promise proclaimed by Isaiah. It is a total overturning of expectation.
**Flowers will blossom and bloom in the parched land.
**Those who are feeble will be strengthened and those who are weak will be steady.
**The fearful ones will find a hidden courage.
**Sight will be given to see what previously has been overlooked and ears will hear what they have missed forever.
**The parched land will be refreshed with springs, rivers will rush through the dry ground, and pools will form on the hot sand.
**The homes of wild animals will not be dangerous, but will be places of safety and nurture.
**Even through the desert, a highway will be given, enabling persons to journey even through the difficult deserts of life. The journey on that highway will not be easy or light, but it will be good.
I find that most people have a hard time believing that these resources really are within them. Most of us look and look and look in the outer world for such resources . . . in books and people and and new ideas. We endlessly jump from thing to thing, looking for the right formula. The danger in spirituality is that often people think it is the thing that will at last provide them everything they need.
The desert is teaching us that there is no better or stronger resource available to the human person that what God does within her/his heart. The Advent invitation is to look within.
Even as you walk in the desert, Christ waits to be born in you.
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