Word to the Wise
Friday, December 17, 2010 - Thursday in the Third Week of Advent
[Isaiah 54:1-10 and Luke 7:24-30]Enlarge the space for your tent, spread out your tent cloths unsparingly; lengthen your ropes and make firm your stakes. For you shall spread abroad to the right and to the left.... [Isaiah]
Isaiah provides a vivid and challenging image of the impact of the "day of the Lord," taken from the nomadic life of the desert shepherds! I'm sure those who are fond of outdoor camping would have no trouble imagining the challenge. How can one make a tent larger than it is, or stretch those lines beyond a certain point to stakes that have been placed further out, so that more people can be accommodated? I've had friends from large families tell me that there was always room for an extra mouth at the table. They didn't always know how the cook made it work, but there would something for everyone! Indeed the image challenges us on a personal as well as national level.
On the national level the very sensitive subject of immigration comes to mind. When one lives in Texas, as I do, it is an everyday topic. There are those who say the tent is only just so large. There are others who say the fear about size is, in reality, a fear about living with folks who are poor or else of a different ethnic background. Those who read Isaiah (or at least the words on the base of the Statue of Liberty about "the huddled masses yearning to be free...") will find something to think about. On a personal level, our continued meditation on the "infancy narratives" in this season should alert us to the announcement by the angels of the Good News of Jesus' birth to the lowborn and despised shepherds and by the star to the pagan Magi. The "tents" of our faith may need stretching beyond what we think is possible! AMEN