Scripture: Isaiah 65:17–25
“Look! I’m creating a new heaven and a new earth..."
“Wolf and lamb will graze together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox, but the snake―it’s food will be dust."
“They won’t hurt or destroy at any place on my holy mountain,” says the Lord.
One Sunday morning a few weeks ago, in the fourth- and fifth-grade Bible study classroom, seven children were listening to the Scripture passage about what Jerusalem would be like when the exiles returned after nearly seventy years away from their homeland.
When Mr. Zach read, “Wolves and lambs will eat together. Lions will eat straw like the oxen do. The serpent will eat dust. The animals will not hurt each other anymore,” I heard the quiet intake of breath as one of the children expressed surprise at the image of the serpent eating dust.
I love it when children hear Scripture and respond with wonder and surprise. In those moments, I know I’m in the presence of “the little child who will lead them.” Their curiosity and awe remind me that peace―God’s peace―begins in wonder.
Isaiah paints a vision of a world transformed: a new heaven and a new earth where all things live in harmony, where there is no weeping, no fear, no destruction. This peace is more than the absence of conflict. It is the fullness of life as God intended it: whole, restored, flourishing.
In Advent, we wait for that peace to come in its fullness. Yet might it already be breaking into the world through moments like that one, when a child’s wonder opens our eyes to see God’s possibilities in a new light? We are invited not just to wait for peace, but to live it now: to be curious, to be gentle, to forgive, to seek reconciliation, to listen with childlike hearts.
I have to wonder why snakes eating dirt is more surprising than wolves and lambs eating together or lions eating straw. What images of peace would elicit sounds of surprise in our world today? What visions of God’s peace might still take our breath away―if only we paused long enough to notice?
Prayer:
God of Peace,
Open our eyes with the wonder of a child.
Teach us to listen for your voice
and to live as people of your new creation.
Let your peace take root in our hearts
and spread through our hands and words,
until all creation rests in you.
Amen.
Reflection Question: Where have you witnessed a glimpse of peace coming out of the blue―in your home, your community, or your own heart―this week?
Beth has two adult children―who wreaked their havoc through the halls of Highland in their day ―and two perfect grandchildren who will never terrorize their teachers. She spends some of her time each week with Highland’s fourth and fifth graders, teaching Bible study and helping with handbells.