A Prayer About No More Harm
The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them. The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. The infant will play near the hole of the cobra, and the young child put his hand into the viper’s nest. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. Isaiah 11:6-9
Dear Lord Jesus, there are so many things I love aboutthe Advent season-the songs regaling your birth and incarnation, the aroma of favorite Yuletide foods and spices, the panoply of Christmas lights aglow in my neighborhood as day gives way to evening. But I especially love pondering the extraordinary and outrageous promises God made surrounding your arrival. My heart rejoices in this grand affirmation… however many promises God has made, they are all “Yes!” in you.
Today, in particular, I’m so thankful for a hope than includes no more harm, of any variety. Oh for the Day, when all “tooth and claw” surviving gives way to wolves frolicking with lambs… leopards and goats napping together… calves, lions and young horses strolling through the new heaven and new earth as friends… cows and bears eating together, rather than one another… snakes as pets rather than pests…
As much as I love the vision of shalom in the animal kingdom, Jesus, multiply that a hundred-fold, make that a thousand-fold, for the joy I feel as I anticipate the Day when we, the image-bearers of the living God, no longer harm one other in any way. Oh for the Day, when there are no more wars, or even rumors of war.
But also, Oh for the Day, when we will never again marginalize or minimize one another… demean or dismiss one another… vilify or idolize one another… use one another selfishly… misuse words and body language on one another… or abuse one another, in any way.
Indeed, Oh for the Day, when we will finally and fully love one another as you love us. Lord Jesus, as our “knowing in part” anticipates the Day when the knowledge of your glory covers the earth as the waters cover the sea, grant us all the mercy and grace we need to give one another substantive tastes of your peaceable kingdom NOW. The world will recognize us as your disciples by the way we love one another. So very Amen, we pray, in your powerful and patient name.
