Father Bob's Reflections

Tuesday of the First Week of Advent

Dear Friends,

Isaiah dreams of a bright future for us; he also chastises us for our idolatry and unfaithfulness to God and our best selves (We will look at this later>)

But today he shows us a wonderful vision: the animals lead the way to peace!

Then the wolf shall be a guest of the lamb . .

The calf and the young lion shall browse together,

with a little child to guide them.

The cow and the bear shall be neighbors,

together their young shall rest:

the lion shall eat hay like an ox

The baby shall play in the cobra’s den – Isiah 11:5-10.

Let’s muse about peace and harmony today.

Let’s muse about the animal’s leading the way to peace.

(I have a Christmas short story about an owl from the banks of the Shenandoah

and a young lion from the Serengeti in Africa leading the way to peace.

It’s a fun story.  Why not download it and save it for close to Christmas?

My puppy Shivvy (of happy memory) demonstrated his fellow creatures of all sorts.

I have stories of him with turtles and little doves with broken wings and bunny rabbits and ducklings on our walks around our condo.

Think about this . . .

What can I do today to bring more harmony into the habitat in which I live

– at home, at work, at church, in my neighborhood, in our world?

Behold a broken world, we pray,

Where want and war increase,

And grant us, Lord, in this our day,

The ancient dream of peace.    — unattributed.

And for your listening pleasure from Handel’s Messiah here are two versions of “And the Glory of the Lord

~ one from Robert Shaw’s Atlanta Symphony ~ Click here.  Be sure to turn up your speakers and enter full screen.

With love,

Bob Traupman

contemplative writer

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