Crying In the Wilderness

The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
As it is written in the prophet Isaiah,
“See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,
who will prepare your way;
the voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the Lord,
make his paths straight.'”
John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. Now John was clothed with camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. He proclaimed, “The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals. I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”
And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him. Mark 1:1-13

Crying In the Wilderness

There are many voices crying in the wilderness
then and now, so much like modern John Baptizers
they call us to repent and clear up the highway
so the embodied love of God can come among us.

We turn a blind eye to so much suffering
ignoring it, we encourage it and are all tainted
by greed and selfish folks with very deep pockets
who own so many wealthy unknowing slaves.

We must follow the children to the wilderness
they are crying and our task is to bring comfort
being baptized anew for righteousness, justice
so our world, which ache for love, might know it.

We must carry the water and build a new font
find the strength to speak up and to act
encourage speaking out in place of putting up
singing loud songs as we go to the waters.

It is time to be strong enough to face it
our sin and collusion with gnawing greed
we are part and parcel of the problem
we must be renewed so we can help solve.

The embodied love of the Divine is weeping
our selfishness has torn at God's heart
we cannot pray for comfort if we won't provide it
love will not come our way without repentance now.