This is part of a series of daily reflections for Advent. I wrote enough reflections to last an entire week after the Fourth Sunday of Advent; since Christmas Eve fell on a Monday this year, I’m publishing the remaining reflections through the rest of this week. The theme for this week’s reflections is: “The Temple reminds Community of Christ that God is with us, working through us to transform the world.”
Isaiah 6:1-3, 8
(excerpted; fresh translation)
I saw the Lord sitting on a throne
elevated high above the floor,
wearing a robe so long and wide
that it filled the temple.
He was waited on by fiery beings,
each with six wings.
The fiery beings called out to one another:
“The Lord is holy, holy, holy!
His glory has filled the whole earth!”
I heard the Lord say:
“Whom will I send?
Who will go for us?”
I said:
“I am here—send me!”
Reflection:
I imagine myself standing in the sanctuary in the Temple at Independence, where the Daily Prayer for Peace is held, with the organ and the spiral ceiling. I am seeing there what Isaiah saw in the Temple at Jerusalem: God enthroned, the gigantic robe, the fiery seraphim. I hear God say, in a booming voice, “Who will go for us?” “I am here!” I call out in reply. “Send me!”
I imagine myself kneeling by the manger in the stable at Bethlehem. I look into the face of the baby, which is the face of God made flesh. Maybe he’s sleeping, exhausted from the delivery. Or maybe he’s awake, absorbing all the strange new sights with wide, blinking eyes. I lean close over him. “I am here,” I whisper. “Send me.”
From beyond the farthest hills 