blossoming like a rose
by Elouise
Today’s prompt brought back an anthem from my college choir days. It’s been playing through my head all day–one of the most beautiful anthems I’ve ever heard.
The lyrics are based on Isaiah 35, a poetic passage that foresees a time to come when all will be well for the blind, deaf, weak and weary. For all who are discouraged, afraid and convinced they’ve been forgotten. Holiness will reign and injustice will be a thing of the past.
And what about this earth? It will also change in ways we can’t imagine. The opening lines of the anthem set the tone. From my memory…
The wilderness and the solitary place shall rejoice,
And the desert will be glad, and blossom like a rose.
For in the wilderness shall water break forth,
And streams flow in the desert.
This is Isaiah’s poetic vision of coming peace with justice. To some it may seem naïve or even make-believe. Yet doesn’t each of us harbor a wish, if not a vision for a better tomorrow?
The account of creation, the fall, and the resulting impact on all generations can sound heavy if not heavy-handed. Nonetheless, the God described throughout Hebrew and Christian Scriptures never gives up. Over and over opportunities are offered for turning around and taking another path. One that leads to justice with peace.
The God who created us is angered by injustice, moved by the plight of those who pay dearly for the decisions of others, including rulers of all kinds. Some leaders work with every intention of doing what’s best for everyone. Others seem intent on doing what’s best for themselves and their own, not for the people they serve or for strangers within their gates.
A beautiful anthem doesn’t solve our problems. It does, however, remind me that our leaders are not God, no matter how committed they are to doing good, and no matter how much we the people may want them to be God.
The anthem also reminds me that I’m not God and you’re not God. No matter how good or right we think we are, we can’t ensure that all will one day be transformed, much less pull it off.
I can, however, take one precarious step forward at a time, and trust God to do right, as the only Judge of all the earth.
© Elouise Renich Fraser, 17 June 2017
Photo found at emeralddesert.com – Desert Bloom in Palm Springs, California
Response to WordPress Daily Prompt: Blossom
This is really nice 👍 🙏
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Thank you kindly. 😊
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The song sounds so lovely just from the passage you included above, and the image brings such peace, very much needed in this day and age, if every one did one kind thing, just think how the trickle down effect on the universe would be ❤ one little thing at a time will add up to big things 🙂
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I like your version of the trickle-down theory! 😊
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Beautiful. A beautiful message beautifully written.
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Thank you for sharing this. I have had occasion many times to talk to my people about our anthem. I tell them it is supposed to be like a guide to us in our everyday life. If we all let our anthem guide us, our country would be an ideal place for all the citizens.
s.
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You’re welcome. I’ve often thought that the anthems and songs we love shape us more than we realize. Especially when they include visions of life together on this earth. Thank you for your astute comment.
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Thank you Elouise.
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You’re welcome.
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You go for it girl 🙂 😈
Certainly nice words and sentiments in the opening lines of your anthem, even I like them 🐻
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Thank you, Brian! You’re a good bloke. Made my day… 🙂
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Good bloke? Can’t get more Australian than that! I hereby anoint you an honorary Aussie 😀 signed on this date by me The ;bear:
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Learned it from a genuine Aussie! 😊
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and I’m not genuine? Too bloody right once a Pom always a Pom, as any dinki -di Aussie will tll you! 🐻
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oh dear, I put a semi colon in front of the bear not a full colon 🐻
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