12/11/2012 – Tuesday of 2nd week in Advent – Isaiah 40:1-11

      We hear a long reading from Isaiah today in this second week of Advent. The prophecy made by Isaiah to the people of Israel at the end of their exile in Babylon sets the stage for a lot of our Advent preparations.  It sets the stage for John the Baptist preparing for the coming of Jesus in the Gospels.  Isaiah declares:  “Comfort, give comfort to my people,” says God.  Yet, this is not the comfort that comes from big homes, a fancy car, or a robust 401K fund, although those things probably would give comfort to a lot of Americans today in our uncertain economic times.  Isaiah speaks about a comfort that goes beyond what our earthly material possessions can give us.  This comfort from God satisfies our desire for wonder and joy; it's a comfort that comes from truth in an age when wisdom is not held in very high esteem, a comfort that heals the bruises and scars that exist in our souls.  We may want to conceal our hurts and our discomforts from others, we may even want to deny them to ourselves, but we cannot hide them from the Lord, who can see deep inside our hearts.  The comfort Isaiah talks about is the longing and ache in our souls that can only be satisfied by God's merciful embrace.  May we take comfort from the message that God gives us today.  May we hear the voice in the desert preparing the way of the Lord.  May we may straight a path for the Lord to enter our lives in all else that is going on.