Week 1: Tuesday
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Isaiah 11.6-9
The wolf shall live with the lamb,
the leopard shall lie down with the kid,
the calf and the lion and the fatling together,
and a little child shall lead them.
The cow and the bear shall graze,
their young shall lie down together;
and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp,
and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder’s den.
They will not hurt or destroy
on all my holy mountain;
for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord
as the waters cover the sea.

Yesterday we heard St Paul assert not only that God is one, but that God’s deepest desire is for all things to be reconciled as one. This is a challenging statement that might – especially after a glance at today’s news– seem too good to be true.

Today’s reading from Isaiah’s vision of the peaceable kingdom is perhaps one of the most hopeful parts of the Bible. Such passages remind us that God’s endgame is peace across a violent and fractured world. Even the predator and prey lie down together in peace.

Black Spirituality insists that regardless of the harsh conditions of life, union and communion have the last word. Peace and healing lie deeper than pain and suffering. There will be a reconciliation of all things, and all time, in God. And, finally, all shall be well in the end.

In the news and in your own life, look for any signs of hope, of harmony.
…and pray

for God’s justice and for God’s healing in our world.