The word that Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.
In days to come the mountain of the Lord’s house
shall be established as the highest of the mountains
and shall be raised above the hills; all the nations shall stream to it.
Many peoples shall come and say,
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways
and that we may walk in his paths.”
For out of Zion shall go forth instruction
and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
He shall judge between the nations and shall arbitrate for many peoples;
they shall beat their swords into ploughshares
and their spears into pruning hooks;
nation shall not lift up sword against nation;
neither shall they learn war any more.
O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord!
Isaiah 2:1-5 NRSVue
"Humanity has become a weapon of mass extinction"
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres
This passage from the first book of the prophet Isaiah (there are at least three significant segments within this book) is one of the readings from the first Sunday of Advent, the beginning of the Christian liturgical year. Things get rather ominous in the chapters which follow but this passage offers a vision which leads humanity from the depths of darkness to mountaintop vista of a new world in the light of God, Creator, Redeemer, Sustainer.
This passage came to mind when I read the exhortation of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres who is on Canadian soil as part of the COP15 conference on biodiversity which is underway in Montreal with representation from 200+ countries. He said we have a chance to stop the "orgy of destruction" which has put a million species at risk of extinction. He added that "it's time to forge a peace pact with nature". This is a powerful choice of words, or a word -- forge -- to describe what needs to happen if this is to be a conference which is more than platitudes.
Blacksmith Scott Hamlin -- New Ross, Nova Scotia
As someone who loves Creator and Creation and wants a world of diversity and beauty for my preciouis grandchildren I understand that fashioning peace for Planet Earth, Turtle Island, is no easy task but is imperative.
I've written about visiting the forge of a blacksmith in Nova Scotia who I'd got to know through the market in Halifax where I served in ministry. I went thinking I would observe him at work but he invited me to try my hand at creating something, which I did. I was twenty years younger and fairly fit but it was hot and demanding work, even over less than an hour. My forearms ached for a couple of days afterward.
For a long time the peace organization Project Ploughshares had a logo which showed a man pounding a sword into something new, which might now be construed as exclusive, but it appears that it has been replaced by a dove image Fair enough, but it was meaningful in conveying the sense of effort required to "give peace a chance".
Creator God, may the participants in Montreal be willing to enter the forge, not as spectators, but as those willing to roll up their sleeves and fashion that peace pact with nature.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
Matthew 5:9 NRSVue
Advent and Christmas wheat in Ukraine -- today's Groundling blog groundlingearthyheavenly.blogspot.com/2022/12/advent
1 comment:
When the rich and powerful finally lose their influence over our governments, we may have peace with Creation.
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