Reflection for December 5
Have I seen something incredible today?
Yes! The smile on my colleague’s bright face as she described an experience of shared laughter with a student. A contagious smile on my daughter’s face while I soaked up the refreshing sound of her giggling. The beautiful landscape with a blueberry sky, some of the last of the vibrantly colored leaves of the season, and a brilliant hill of green grass. God’s presence in nature and in others is incredible.
The last words of today’s gospel may be an invitation for us to consider the incredible things we see. As we are watching, waiting, and making room for Christ this season, we are witnesses to incredible beauty. But in our often-constant motion, we may miss some of these fleeting moments God made for us to savor and call incredible.
Incredible things mentioned in today’s reading from Isaiah include a desert blooming with abundant flowers, the blind seeing, and an end to mourning and sorrow. We witness glimpses of these events in our daily lives, but is there a free moment to pause, to savor, and to name such things incredible? Maybe we can try that out for a day. Unexpected flowers may be the smile that you see on a face that hasn’t smiled much recently. The clarity of vision that slices through a confounding challenge and pushes us toward resolution may be a relief from blindness. Joy and gratitude breaking through as the fruits of the work of grieving provide a respite from sorrow.
We are called to be watchful, to wait, and to make room during this season. Lord, please help us create some moments to name, to savor, and to give thanks for the incredible things we see in our rich daily lives.
Laura Marcucio