Daily Advent Reflection: Dec 18

A modern reflection on Isaiah 61: 1-4

The spirit of the one who Will Be Who She Will Be is with me, because She has breathed her life into me; she has sent me to bring good news to those who sleep on the streets, to wash the blistered feet of the migrant worker lost in the borderland desert, to bring warm meals and news from the neighborhood each week to the elders alone and captive in their homes, and release to the prisoners locked by the shame of the past, to proclaim the year that God winked and danced with us, and the mere day when the fallen powers get what’s coming; to comfort all who weep and grieve with heavy hearts; to provide for those who mourn so much they keep calling in sick to work day after day—to place a wreath of sweet honeysuckle and roses gently on their heads with a kiss, to let the smile lines of gladness take up permanent residence on their cheeks instead of tears, and let them be enveloped in praise instead of weighted down by a faint spirit.

People will see them and say, “They are like oak trees. I want to curl up on the soft grass under their strength and shade.” They shall transform super fund sites into play grounds, they shall turn whole despairing neighborhoods into urban gardens; they shall inhabit the abandoned places of Empire and open up pay-what-you-can organic cafes, and the devastations of many generations shall be overgrown with bike lanes and fruit trees and all shall live in "a friendly world of friendly folk beneath a friendly sky."


Thanks to Howard Thurman, an African-American mystic and theologian, who brought the "friendly folk" image into the world. The rest was written by Carol Bradsen at Time Market cafe while drinking a cup of coffee on this cloudy morning in Tucson.