Isaiah's prophecy

“The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death, a light has dawned."
Isaiah 9:2

There are different kinds of darkness within which we sometimes have to walk. Many of them can feel like living in a land overshadowed by despair, anxiety, grief or loneliness. These bring an accompanying loss of motivation and appetite for life. Often life in our world these days is like walking in darkness, living under deep shadows of foreboding and uncertainty. Advent interrupts our pessimism. Isaiah declares the coming of the light of God’s coming! Against a horizon of despair, hope dawns, as God says “Let there be light!” God is on the move and hope is rising.

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders.”   

 Isaiah 9:6a

I can’t read these words without hearing them set to Handel’s music with its outspokenly joyous chorus! It’s an irresistible Advent earworm! These words were first spoken to broken- hearted people who could see no good future. Government was Empire, and Empire was about force, control and loss of freedom. The sign of the newborn child was God’s promise of a different future. This Advent, when you celebrate the birth of the Christ child, and open yourself again to the gift of God’s Son, do so looking forward to the coming of God’s Kingdom, in God’s good time.

Grace and peace,

Anita Sorenson
Pastor for Spiritual Formation