Thus says God, Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old. I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. The wild animals will honor me, the jackals and the ostriches; for I give water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, to give drink to my chosen people, the people whom I formed for myself so that they might declare my praise.
Deutero Isaiah
Second Isaiah (Deutero Isaiah) is the unnamed prophet of the Jewish captivity in Babylon. He spoke of loss of the homeland, the place of promise. His words were addressed to exiles, far away from home. It's not that Babylon was a bad place. It was a land of good provision. Jewish exiles had done well, by and large. They had made a very positive contribution to Babylon and its culture. Yet, it was not home. The exiles longed for a return to their homeland.
This part of the biblical story has often been used as an allegory for the spiritual life. “This world is not our home.” There is that deep sense in the human spirit that there is something more. The world as we know it, is a world of suffering: a world of dukkha, the Buddha taught us. Birth, aging, death. We often miss the good things in life; too often we know the bad things in life. There is suffering in all things. In this sense, we are all in Babylon. This life is Babylon. Is there no way out, no way through?
Beloved, this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.
Paul
Here a spiritual longing is more clearly expressed: a longing for what Paul calls resurrection. It is helpful to think of resurrection as more than a mere bodily resuscitation. Resurrection is the completion of humanity. It is humanity in its fullness in the presence of the Ultimately Real. All the incapacities, and failings, and frustrations and sufferings of life as we know it now left behind.
Here is the future orientation. Deutero Isaiah and Paul look to the future and tell us that in God’s process all shall be well. In God there will be a way in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, mouths filled with laughter, tongues with songs of joy, restoration, shouts of joy, the prize of God in Christ.
How will it be so? Because that is the shape of the universe, shaped by God who will bring all to pass. For at the heart of the universe is not suffering but love. How did the prophets know this? They intuited it in the spirit. There can be no rational defense of God ‘s bright future. It is a matter of faith and faith itself is a gift.
Yet, one can orientate oneself to God’s future. One can side with the process. Paul did. Knowing that he had not attained the goal he made the choice of pressing toward it with his whole life. How might we do that?
Practice.
Practice.
Practice.
This is no quick fix. This is daily, reorientation of ourselves to God’s future. In our practice we are saying, “Yes!” to God’s process in the universe to end suffering, to bring all to resurrection.
+Ab. Andy
Photo © 2009 Jane Hall Fitz-Gibbon