“For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we had been eyewitnesses of his majesty.  For he received honor and glory from God the Father when that voice was conveyed to him by the Majestic Glory, saying, ‘This is my Son, my Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.’  We ourselves heard this voice come from heaven, while we were with him on the holy mountain.  So we have the prophetic message more fully confirmed.  You will do well to be attentive to this as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.  First of all you must understand this, that no prophecy of scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, because no prophecy ever came by human will, but men and women moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.”—2 Peter 1:16-21

We have before us either an eyewitness account or an account of an eyewitness account that has been handed down within the Petrine community.  I have often wondered what it would have been like to have been there.  While wondering this, I wonder how I would have responded to the person and movement of Jesus of Nazareth.  Would it be easier to believe that he was the Son of God and a person of the Triune God if we also heard the Majestic Glory declare, “This is my Son, my Beloved, with whom I am well pleased”?  Or, would it be more difficult since we would know him as a friend, a brother in the flesh?  I am guessing that the latter would actually prevail.  Most of the disciples, his closest comrades, seemed to have never figured out the full significance of the identity of their teacher until his resurrection. 

In the very beginning the shepherds and the wise men seemed to get it.  Yet, no matter how much we celebrate their presence in our nativity scenes and plays, we do not really see them again throughout the rest of the gospels.  The demons got it, but theirs is not exactly the example we want to follow.  Even though Peter famously declared it, he clearly did not believe strongly enough to stop his denials.

Mary got it.  John the Baptist got it.  The hemorrhaging woman got it.  The woman with the expensive oil got it. The prisoner hanging next to Jesus got it.  These are all people whose actions and words reiterated those of the Majestic Glory—“This is God’s Son, God’s Beloved, with whom God is well pleased.”  Mary was there at his birth.  John was there as they grew up and started their public ministries.  The hemorrhaging woman was there when he was so popular that thick crowds hemmed him in on all sides.  The woman with the expensive oil was there as he prepared to meet his end.  The prisoner was there as he died.  At each step along his journey of life, somebody was there to proclaim his true identity.  These were men and women moved by the Holy Spirit.

I think it is ok that most people did not get it.  I think it is ok that most of us still do not fully get it.  How can we fully grasp a concept like the Incarnation?  We can get bits and pieces of it, though, if we seek out the men and women whose lives speak the voice of Majestic Glory.  The good news is that through the Incarnation did come to know each and every one of us in the fullness of our identities.  Hallelujah!

ADVENT: DAY 11 

“Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees. Say to those who are of a fearful heart, ‘Be strong, do not fear! Here is your God. He will come with vengeance, with terrible recompense. He will come and save you.’ Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy. 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.”—Isaiah 35:3-7 

After months of heat and dry earth, the rainy season is finally starting to arrive in spurts around here. It is not enough yet, but those of us in the Copperbelt can honestly say that we are blessed. In other parts of Zambia, Zimbabwe, and South Africa there is a protracted drought that is putting crops and thus livelihoods on the line. The ground is indeed thirsty. 

In my very small corner of the Mindolo Ecumenical Foundation campus, I am actually experiencing the swamp, which is keeping away the packs of dogs that like to run through my yard. I very recently moved to this newly constructed home, which is at the bottom of a rather steep incline. We are only now beginning the process of tilling the soil and planting the grass. When the spurts of rain have been coming, they have been coming with awesome force. Even ten minutes of this sustained rain means a breaking forth of the water into the mud pit that has become my front yard. Just like the burning sand becoming a pool, the path leading to my door has become a veritable quicksand trap—already guilty of swallowing some shoes and sandals. So, while much of the rest of southern Africa is longing for springs of water, I am using stepping stones and planks of wood to enter and exit my home. 

What has amazed me most about the growth of my swamp has been the explosion of sound at night. For, along with the rain has come wildlife in search of any pooling water. As I sit on my porch at night, frogs, crickets, songbirds, raptors, lizards, and swarms of flying insects bless me with their choruses. As if this weren’t enough, the rains have also caused the dust and smog of Kitwe to settle. I can finally see the stars in the heavens (sometimes falling) and the fireflies in front of my face. I can breathe clean, cool air. Because the days are so often stiflingly hot and muggy, I need these sacred evenings on the porch. 

It is no mistake that the author of this portion of Isaiah melds the healing of people with the watering of the earth. The eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the speechless sing. 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. We are fused with this earth and cannot be separated from it. Our lives are intertwined with the life of the wilderness, the desert, the burning sand, the thirsty ground. 

Although I have ability and body privilege, I am blind and deaf to much that I need to see and hear, I constrain my body from acting to its full potential, and I do not speak up enough. With each passing sacred evening on the porch I feel the watering of the earth opening me up to sensing anew that which I must sense in order to fulfill God’s call upon me. 

May you also commune with Creation this Advent and come to a fuller knowledge of how the Incarnation means that God is alive in all the earth. May we all ponder if are willing to destroy 

this Incarnation as we obliterate Creation. May we remember our original purpose as caretakers of this planet.