Saturday, January 31, 2015

Saturday, January 31, 2015

Isaiah 51:1-8

Every morning as I get ready for school, I listen to the news. More often than not, I am struck by the overwhelming violence that plagues the world. The conflict in Palestine and Israel is often on my mind, not only because of family friends who have worked there as peacemakers, but also because of university friends from Jerusalem and the land around. It makes me feel as though the world has become a land wasted by war, that nobody cares about it anymore. 

And yet, as Isaiah tells us, in all the hopelessness and fear – in the deserts and the wilderness – God makes God’s presence known, and the earth is transformed. Last November, in a concert with Inshallah Community Choir, I experienced a glimpse of God’s presence, a manifestation of the sacred. We sang Between Darkness and Light, a song by Jewish composer Daphna Rosenberg with a text in English, Hebrew and Arabic. In our performance, we sang the English text, while musicians from the community – both Muslim and Jewish – joined us to sing the Arabic and Hebrew texts. In the midst of the overwhelming conflict in the world outside, we were making peace among the nations. I felt God appear, reminding us that we are not alone in our struggles for social justice. Within and without of the conflict, people gather to profess their belief beyond all hopelessness in a peace that will come and last. 

In all our struggles, Isaiah’s words remind us that even Abraham, father of multitudes, was once alone himself. But God came and promised him more, and transformed the one into the promise of a great family. These moments are glimpses of God – manifestations of the sacred – and they remind us that though the way is hard, there is a just and peaceful city coming to us upon the earth. In Isaiah’s time, it was a return to Jerusalem. In our day, we will continue to work to make the world better.  

- Josh Zentner-Barrett