Now here’s a Christmas message for you, straight from the mouth of the prophet Isaiah, who lived… oh… say, 2800 years ago.  Isaiah said,

Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights;

I have put my spirit upon him;

he will bring forth justice to the nations.

He will not cry or lift up his voice, or make it heard in the street;

a bruised reed he will not break, and a dimly burning wick he will not quench;

he will faithfully bring forth justice.

He will not grow faint or be crushed until he has established justice in the earth;

and the coastlands wait for his teaching.

I picture a world of justice in which parents care for their children, in which no one is hungry or homeless, in which the weak are respected by the strong, in which the sick are healed, and in which people have meaningful work.  While this justice is still coming,  it spreads like the sun’s rays pouring upon a new day, or like water flowing into a drought.  Maybe it will spread into all places people go, and this God of justice will be known everywhere, by everyone!  It could spread to other planets, other worlds, wherever there are creatures in need of justice.

Thanks, Isaiah, for spreading the word!

The Boy in the Manger

Photograph by Lynn Bridge

Congress of Worlds

by Lynn Bridge

9″ x 13″ x 3″

Congress of Worlds (detail)

Mosaic by Lynn Bridge

Ceramic undulation by Roberta Mitchell