Prepare the Way of the Lord

Prepare the Way of the Lord
Advent 2: Luke 3:1-6, Malachi 3:1-14, Luke 1: 68-79 (Song of Zechariah)
There are voices who cry out within our wilderness
for the sake of Earth and desperate refugees,
for the dispossessed First Nations still without redress
and the women with no voice to frame their pleas.

Like the Baptist at the Jordan, they cry out “Repent!
Turn from exile, seek to set the crooked straight!
Now prepare the way for One who surely will be sent,
who has come, and will be coming, soon or late.

Every valley shall be filled and every height stripped down,
and the lowly and rejected find their place,
while the proud and mighty tumble from the heights they crown,
and the slow and steady tortoise wins the race.

Who can stand when they are tested by refiner’s fire
that will burn away the dross and leave the gold?
Then self-satisfied oppressors see their power expire,
and the ones who spare no warmth will feel the cold.

Then the dawn that is God’s mercy will break out on high,
and all loving souls will worship without fear.
There’ll be freedom with no clash of arms or battle cry,
in the peace that shows God’s kingdom has come near.”
	Barbara Messner 1/12/2021