Category Archives: Isaiah

Add flavor

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George Pencz (ca.1500-1550)
To Feed the Hungry
Engraving
National Gallery of Art

Jesus said to his disciples: “You are the salt of the earth. But if salt loses its taste, with what can it be seasoned? It is no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.” Matthew 5:13

No matter our situation, we can add flavor to life by sharing kindness with those who are hungry for attention. We can offer the shelter of our compassion to those who are suffering. We can wrap the lonely in the caring warmth of our companionship.

Today I will seek quiet moments to pray and meditate so that I may not lose my taste for loving and serving my neighbor.

Darkness dispelled by love

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Léonard Gaultier, 1561-1641
Follow Me and I will Make You Fishers of Men
engraving, probably c. 1576/1580
Washington, National Gallery of Art

Anguish has taken wing, dispelled is darkness: for there is no gloom where but now there was distress. The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; upon those who dwelt in the land of gloom a light has shone.
Isaiah 8:23b—9:1

The light of hope is always with me in the person of Jesus, who calls me by name and asks me to follow his way of forgiveness, compassion, and peace.

Lord, you are healing for those who suffer from despair, grief, and injustice. Help me to bring your light of love with me today that I may be a comforting presence to those in need.

Blessed by the Light

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The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; upon those who dwelt in the land of gloom a light has shone.
Isaiah 9:1

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and
the Lord Jesus Christ. Romans 1:7b

Grace and peace unending, eternal light of love, compassion, forgiveness, comfort.

Today I will make use of God’s gifts to me to dispel a little bit of the gloom that pervades our society and world.

Stay awake

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First Sunday of Advent

First Sunday of Advent

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. Isaiah 2:4

Today I pray that I may turn my swords and spears of impatience, indifference, envy, rudeness, self-seeking, acrimony, and resentment into life-giving love: patience, kindness, acceptance, courtesy, generosity, peace-making, and forgiveness.

Baptized into the community of love

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We are called by our baptism to remember each member of our human family is beloved of God.

It is our lifework to offer compassion to the suffering, forgiveness to those who have hurt us, and comfort to those who are grieving and burdened with the stresses that arise in life.

Comfort, give comfort to my people, says your God. Isaiah 40:1

The work of today

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The Birth of St. John the Baptist
Spain, ca.1525
Gilded wood
Art Institute of Chicago

My daily work is to show up for life, treat all people with compassion, generosity, and respect, take care of today’s responsibilities, and help manifest God’s vision of peace, unity, and love in our fragile world.

Though I thought I had toiled in vain, and for nothing, uselessly, spent my strength, yet my reward is with the LORD, my recompense is with my God. Isaiah 49:4

Healing comfort

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Faith in God’s love, compassion, and constant, kindly presence empowers me to comfort those who are frightened, ill, lost, homeless, hungry, at risk, angry,  depressed, or in mourning.

Comfort calms and renews hope. It is a gift that heals.

Comfort, give comfort to my people, says your God. Isaiah 40:1

Worthy

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Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard
11th c.
Byzantine gospel. Paris, National Library

God surrounds, fills, and blesses each human person with the same abundant love, compassion, and comfort. We don’t have to prove our worth to God. Whenever we show up for God, God is already there with a warm welcome.

Today I will make God’s boundless, unbiased love apparent by treating everyone I encounter with respect and kindness.

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the LORD. As high as the heavens are above the earth, so high are my ways above your ways and my thoughts above your thoughts. Isaiah 55:8-9

 

A spirit of knowledge

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2_candlesImagine the knowledge of God’s love, compassion, and forgiveness filling and covering the whole earth. How reverently we would step. How respectfully we would treat each other. How quickly we would help anyone in need. How peaceful our homes, communities, and countries would be.

Am I willing to participate in the kingdom of God—here and now?

There shall be no harm or ruin on all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be filled with knowledge of the LORD, as water covers the sea. Isaiah 11:9

Respond to the voices

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A voice cries out in the wilderness

“A voice cries out in the wilderness”
Israeli wall around the West Bank

[John] said: “I am the voice of one crying out in the desert, ‘make straight the way of the Lord,'” as Isaiah the prophet said.” John 1:23

Jesus does not exist apart from human struggles, human injustice, human atrocities. The voices I hear calling from war-torn countries show me where to find Jesus: right in the middle of it all.

How will I respond to the voices calling to me today? How will I make straight the way of the Lord in the midst of human suffering?