Not Even Fools
For waters shall break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert; the burning sand shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water; the haunt of jackals shall become a swamp, the grass shall become reeds and rushes. A highway shall be there, and it shall be called the Holy Way; the unclean shall not travel on it, but it shall be for God's people; no traveler, not even fools, shall go astray. No lion shall be there, nor shall any ravenous beast come up on it; they shall not be found there, but the redeemed shall walk there. And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away. Isaiah 35: 6-10
I suppose a good number of my readership have enjoyed The Greatest Christmas Pageant Ever, so I won't dwell on its contents except to highlight its main message -- that miracles come from unlikely, dirty-faced refugees -- that the first Christmas itself probably looked like that.
I've always liked the idea myself -- never felt like it was a betrayal of my faith to picture its origins as far more shabby and far less liturgically appealing than what we do Christmas Eve 2,000 years later. I like the stories in the Hebrew Bible about younger sons making good, getting the blessing whether by merit or trickery. I like the idea of the underdog, the prole, the untouchable getting their turn.
The reading for the third week of Advent this year came from Isaiah 35 -- a passage I have always loved. But I noticed something new in the translation that was used; it differs from the translation I find in the Revised English Bible, and I don't have any way of knowing which is more correct. But I suppose there is midrashic precedent for lighting upon a piquant bit of translation and riffing on it, as I am about to do. The lectionary translation reads: "...no traveler, not even fools, shall go astray" -- while the REB has it: "...it will become a pilgrim's way, and no fool will trespass on it." The parallelism is complete with the second translation, but I like the first one for a very simple reason: God's holy road of pilgrimage, according to it, is idiot-proof; something I consider rather essential in a holy road of pilgrimage.
It ought to be fairly clear that when it comes to getting closer to God, and to all the desirable by-products of a close relationship with God -- peace among one's people and inward cleanness -- we are our own worst enemies. Yes, other people do often muck it up for us, but we do the best bang-up job of all, and it gets disheartening at times.
But God's plans can't be mucked up. God's way of pilgrimage is idiot-proof.
I got so mad a few years ago when I heard a very slanted radio commercial urging us to call our congressman and urge him to pass the free trade agreement with China so that the Lord's missionary work be done there. As if the Lord's work were so dependent on our piddling legislation that God couldn't get done unless we stepped up to the plate. (The fact that said free trade agreement was good mostly to offer dubious benefits to corporations wishing to hire cheap Chinese labor shall be left aside.) And yet many people, many good Christians and diligent missioners, probably bought this line of complete hooey.
I'm not trying to make a Candide-like argument that all is for the best in the best of all possible worlds -- it's all too clear, both in Isaiah and in our experience, that it is not the best of all possible worlds going on here. Nor am I stepping up to pitch an argument for universalism; that is more than I know. But I do know that God takes special care of us fools and children, and it is very very hard to get lost on the pilgrim way, even if we feel completely lost most of the time.
On the night God came God's own self to share our vagabond state (I wonder as I wander out under the sky), we read these promises and take comfort, and joy. There will be streams in the desert, and a road not even fools can get lost on.
Merry Christmas to you and yours.
For waters shall break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert; the burning sand shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water; the haunt of jackals shall become a swamp, the grass shall become reeds and rushes. A highway shall be there, and it shall be called the Holy Way; the unclean shall not travel on it, but it shall be for God's people; no traveler, not even fools, shall go astray. No lion shall be there, nor shall any ravenous beast come up on it; they shall not be found there, but the redeemed shall walk there. And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away. Isaiah 35: 6-10
I suppose a good number of my readership have enjoyed The Greatest Christmas Pageant Ever, so I won't dwell on its contents except to highlight its main message -- that miracles come from unlikely, dirty-faced refugees -- that the first Christmas itself probably looked like that.
I've always liked the idea myself -- never felt like it was a betrayal of my faith to picture its origins as far more shabby and far less liturgically appealing than what we do Christmas Eve 2,000 years later. I like the stories in the Hebrew Bible about younger sons making good, getting the blessing whether by merit or trickery. I like the idea of the underdog, the prole, the untouchable getting their turn.
The reading for the third week of Advent this year came from Isaiah 35 -- a passage I have always loved. But I noticed something new in the translation that was used; it differs from the translation I find in the Revised English Bible, and I don't have any way of knowing which is more correct. But I suppose there is midrashic precedent for lighting upon a piquant bit of translation and riffing on it, as I am about to do. The lectionary translation reads: "...no traveler, not even fools, shall go astray" -- while the REB has it: "...it will become a pilgrim's way, and no fool will trespass on it." The parallelism is complete with the second translation, but I like the first one for a very simple reason: God's holy road of pilgrimage, according to it, is idiot-proof; something I consider rather essential in a holy road of pilgrimage.
It ought to be fairly clear that when it comes to getting closer to God, and to all the desirable by-products of a close relationship with God -- peace among one's people and inward cleanness -- we are our own worst enemies. Yes, other people do often muck it up for us, but we do the best bang-up job of all, and it gets disheartening at times.
But God's plans can't be mucked up. God's way of pilgrimage is idiot-proof.
I got so mad a few years ago when I heard a very slanted radio commercial urging us to call our congressman and urge him to pass the free trade agreement with China so that the Lord's missionary work be done there. As if the Lord's work were so dependent on our piddling legislation that God couldn't get done unless we stepped up to the plate. (The fact that said free trade agreement was good mostly to offer dubious benefits to corporations wishing to hire cheap Chinese labor shall be left aside.) And yet many people, many good Christians and diligent missioners, probably bought this line of complete hooey.
I'm not trying to make a Candide-like argument that all is for the best in the best of all possible worlds -- it's all too clear, both in Isaiah and in our experience, that it is not the best of all possible worlds going on here. Nor am I stepping up to pitch an argument for universalism; that is more than I know. But I do know that God takes special care of us fools and children, and it is very very hard to get lost on the pilgrim way, even if we feel completely lost most of the time.
On the night God came God's own self to share our vagabond state (I wonder as I wander out under the sky), we read these promises and take comfort, and joy. There will be streams in the desert, and a road not even fools can get lost on.
Merry Christmas to you and yours.
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