December 15, 2012 – Isaiah 33:17-24 – A Quiet Abode
December 14, 2012
We humans look for a quiet place to bind up our wounds and gather strength. We search for background that explains the inexplicable, details that relieve us of responsibility. We anguish over a world that seems lost to injustice and rampant evil. We feel as though there is nothing but turmoil and chaos and yet, there is a quiet abode.
We hear news that chills us to the bone that innocent young lives are cut short; we see proof that dedicated adults die in the flash of a semi-automatic weapon designed to kill swiftly and indiscriminately. We cry out for change we suspect will never arrive. It seems as though it is impossible to find a place of refuge and yet, there is a tent that will never be struck.
We lament the loss of young lives within our own borders but pay no attention to headlines from other places in the world that tell of children who are terrorized daily. We know that entire families are slaughtered in the name of God. We exchange commerce with governments that murder their own. We prop up regimes that snuff out life with the coolness of a shooter who enters an elementary school with assault weapons and yet, there is a tent whose anchoring pegs will never be pulled up.
We struggle with difficult colleagues. Loved ones bicker and argue over who has control when no one in fact does. We disconnect ourselves from others at precisely the moment when solidarity is needed. We sever ties in an attempt to preserve whatever strength we have left and yet, there is a sanctuary whose tethering ropes will never be severed.
The wicked cry out that there is no safety. Iniquity delights in the sorrow it creates. A desire for revenge takes hold and evil multiplies itself. We gather up any vestige of strength that remains and we look for the light we know will pierce the darkness. The desperate cry out that perhaps there is no God and yet, the Lord is here with us . . . creating for us a quiet abode within his protective arms.
As the world mourns the loss of life in Newtown, CT in the USA, let us also mourn the loss of so much life around the world. Let us call others to join us as we mourn massacres everywhere. Let us join in prayer for those who struggle with private demons and public scorn. Let us enter the only refuge that never disappears and never betrays. So let us pray . . .
In the storm of turmoil that whirls around us, call us to the tent that the winds of war will never un-tether.
In the maelstrom of emotion that savages any hope of serenity, bring us into the tent whose pegs will always remain anchored.
In the deluge of fear and the tempest of anger that boil up to sap our energy, hold us in the shelter of your compassionate heart. Clasp us firmly in the arms of your justice. Remain with us in the safe haven of your quiet abode. For where you are is mercy. Where you are is justice. Where you are is peace. Where you are . . . is our only safe and quiet abode.
Let us hold in prayer all those who are touched by brutality anywhere in the world. We ask for your peace and consolation for all those who are traumatized by violence anywhere in the world. In this Advent time we look to the light that pierces the darkness; we look for the solace of your quiet abode. Amen.
To read about the incident in Connecticut, click on the image above.
The Noontimes 