Isaiah 11: 6-10
6
The wolf will live with the lamb,
the leopard will lie down with the goat,
the calf and the lion and the yearling[a] together;
and a little child will lead them.
7
The cow will feed with the bear,
their young will lie down together,
and the lion will eat straw like the ox.
8
The infant will play near the cobra’s den,
and the young child will put its hand into the viper’s nest.
9
They will neither harm nor destroy
on all my holy mountain,
for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord
as the waters cover the sea.
10
In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his resting place will be glorious.
The just hatched chicks we brought home at the beginning of the pandemic are now fluffy, bossy hens, providing us with eggs and entertainment as they gleefully destroy our garden beds and run pellmell down the hillside from invisible adversaries.
Having birds ranging free in the yard has brought forth a bounty of neighborhood cats. Some come to look and stalk from the safety of the flower beds, but one or two have been brave enough to rush the flock. Once from the kitchen I felt more than saw a flurry of activity, flashes of fur and feather – in seconds our large and flightless birds had flapped their way up to the top of an 8 foot fence, where, woozily clutching the wooden planks, they loudly berated me and the tortoiseshell cat for our negligence in maintaining their peaceful environment.
This is nature’s way, always some animal eating another animal, or charging at it for the sheer ecstasy of predating a slower creature. This is also our human way, our dog-eat-dog attitude about success, our devouring consumerism. Isaiah sees another world entirely: not the uneasy peace of my yard where the big hens and the scrawny cat have decided to mostly ignore one another. Not the begrudging world of capitalism’s magnates who decide to grow a charitable arm because their unethical policies have come to light. No, this is the way of the Root of Jesse, he who roots for the underdog: “They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain.” The needy, the poor, the young, the old…we will all shelter in his resting place together, and it will indeed be glorious.
God of peace, you promise a world without predation, an earth safe for our children and full of justice. We await the prophet’s vision. Until it comes, may we be the hands and feet of peace, working for the good of those who need safety and hope in this life. Amen.