God of all people, bless and protect this dear reader in all that they may face today; in Christ Jesus I pray, amen.
Our text for today comes from Isaiah 35: 1 Wilderness and desert will sing joyously, the badlands will celebrate and flower - 2 bursting into blossom, a symphony of song and color. Mountain glories of Lebanon - a gift. Awesome Carmel, stunning Sharon - gifts. God's resplendent glory, fully on display. God awesome, God majestic. 3 Energize the limp hands, strengthen the rubbery knees. 4 Tell fearful souls, "Courage! Take heart! God is here, right here, on his way to put things right And redress all wrongs. He's on his way! He'll save you!" 5 Blind eyes will be opened, deaf ears unstopped, 6 Lame men and women will leap like deer, the voiceless break into song. Springs of water will burst out in the wilderness, streams flow in the desert. 7 Hot sands will become a cool oasis, thirsty ground a splashing fountain. Even lowly jackals will have water to drink, and barren grasslands flourish richly. 8 There will be a highway called the Holy Road. No one rude or rebellious is permitted on this road. It's for God's people exclusively - impossible to get lost on this road. Not even fools can get lost on it. 9 No lions on this road, no dangerous wild animals - Nothing and no one dangerous or threatening. Only the redeemed will walk on it. 10 The people God has ransomed will come back on this road. They'll sing as they make their way home to Zion, unfading halos of joy encircling their heads, Welcomed home with gifts of joy and gladness as all sorrows and sighs scurry into the night.
One summer I worked at "the plant" with my dad. I was a painter's assistant, preparing things to be painted and I was assigned to a pretty interesting man. He, my dad, and the dad of some dear church friends, were master painters and were experts in what they did, and for the most part, enjoyed what they did. John, the painter to whom I was assigned, was only a few years older than myself and we shared pretty much the same interests, especially music. We also told stories of our past, and John was good at sharing those stories of experiences that stayed with me, especially the one of his hitchhiking across the desert. He told of not being able to find a ride and before he knew it, it was pitch black along the Interstate. He knew that at night, rattlesnakes knew to come lay on the warmth of the highway, so he walked cautiously. At one point he heard a distant sound. The dark did not allow him to see what it was, so he was a bit scared. He soon could tell it was a whooshing sound, and it gradually got louder and louder, and soon it sounded eerie as it came upon him. He walked off the highway and prepared for the worse, and laughed when he saw it was a huge tumbleweed that rolled past him. Not too many years later I ran out of gas between El Paso and Ft. Stockton. I believe I was eleven miles outside of Ft. Stockton on my way home to Houston. John's story was the one I was remembering as I thought I would need to walk to FS to get gasoline. The desert, at night, does not resemble anything that the prophet mentions in the first two verses of this passage. What he was seeing was a place prepared for the coming of the One who would make all things right. The power of the coming King was so powerful that even nature had joined in with blossoms and flowerings to make things appear right until this King could make things right.
I see the Christmas lights in that way. Today's Upper Room devotional spoke of hometowns and my little town suffered a lot with the economic downturns of the mid-60s and never returned to the glory I knew when a child. The downtown once filled with stores, including some terrific 5 and 10's (kiddos, ask your grandparents what those were or visit downtown Fredericksburg, TX; they still have one that looks like one, but the prices are way beyond 5 & 10 cents) stores; yet every Christmas season the lights transform the city and hide what I call the imperfections of reality. I see it as a preparation of our celebration of the birth of our King not as "commercialization" as others do. It is a display of joy and a readiness to celebrate, as our hearts should be, bright with light of the coming King, whose first visit shone brightly in our souls.
The rest of the story? We're told to help one another and be all about love. Thank God I ran out of gas during the height of that craze called the "C.B. Craze," when the majority of drivers in cars had copied the big truckers in having citizen band radios. I had been following another vehicle, though he did not respect the traffic speed limit laws and left me way back. As soon as I pulled over to ponder my fate, a clear voice came on the radio, "Do you need a ride?" I looked in the rearview mirror and there was a car parked behind me. This kind soul drove me to FS, where I bought gas and another vehicle came and the persons inside said they would drive me back to my car. The last verses of today's passage came true.
PRAYER: Loving God, help me to prepare my soul to shine Your light into the lives of others. Help me to show who I am, and Whose I am, so that others will come to see the real meaning and purpose behind this Advent time and make ready the true celebration of Christmas. In Christ Jesus' precious and powerful name I pray, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord.
Eradio Valverde
