Reflection
Then the wolf shall be a guest of the lamb,
Isaiah 11:6
and the leopard shall lie down with the kid;
the calf and the young lion shall browse together,
with a little child to guide them.
The other day I was unsuccessfully trying to enter some locked glass doors on the second floor at the Center on Halsted in Chicago. Shortly, a mother with two toddlers in tow came out from another room not too far from where I stood. I knocked on the glass and signaled for help. One of her toddlers took off running to help me, and of course, Mom quickly followed. I doubt the toddler would have been able to let me in, but now, Mom had no choice. She had run the length of the hallway and might just as well open the door as she did.
What is it that would make a mother want to run after her toddler? What does Isaiah see in today’s scripture selection that allows enemies like the wolf and lamb, the calf and the leopard, with the kid collaborating and a little child leading them?
Is he suggesting that we create our own enemies as we grow into adulthood, enemies that a young child has not learned to fear? Is Isaiah suggesting that fear itself is not a good response?
Is he suggesting that maybe there is a better response and that response can be found in the innocence of the child who fears nothing, but anxiously wants to savor and experience this new life given to them this day?
One more story. As a ten-year-old child, I remember coming home for lunch, standing at the corner a half block away from home, waiting for Mrs. Lacy, the Crossing Guard, to let us go when a fellow classmate said, “Look, there is a funeral hearse parked in front of your house!” My twin brother Dave and I ran home from there as soon as Mrs. Lacy let us cross, only to be met by my mother’s remains being carried out of our home on a two-wheeler. Turning towards the house, I saw three of my aunts on the top steps with their hands held out, bidding us to come to them. I didn’t. I took off running. To this day, seventy years later, I still don’t remember where I ran, but I do know I continued running for the next thirty-five years, running from my feelings and from the gifts my creator was offering me.
God, help me live life today, not fearing, but trustingly accepting each new gift you offer me today and like the child above, run to discover life. Help me realize I have no enemy except the ones I create. You, creator God, offer only life, even if it sometimes comes in the guise of a hearse and death.
Thank you Daniel from another Daniel. You share well in a piercing, personal and yet universal reflection in various aspects of life and faith. Yes we struggle and run away, all of us but YOU had the inner conviction to return! Thank you for a gripping and profound encounter with life, Jesus and beyond
Thanks Dan 🙏