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| "Come now, let us argue it out..." Isaiah 64.18 |
“So, you won’t be coming today?”
I asked the local plumber/mechanic who came by last week to look at my water heart.
Yup, I’ve been without hot water since last Tuesday. I need a new gas valve, and they didn't have the part.
“No, we will not be coming today. Probably tomorrow.”
So, I wait one more day for hot water.
How perfect is this, right? At the start of Advent, a season of holy waiting, I’m actively waiting for hot water. Having no hot water means I have to adjust some of my routines, like running. Typically, I run on Mondays for —30 minutes or so. On days like today, with flurries frantically falling in the air, nothing would feel better after a cold run than a hot shower.
Not today.
Today I’ll stretch, maybe do some yoga, and focus more on strength training. Not too much though, I don’t want to have to take a cold shower!
While I may not have hot water, I still have water--to drink and make supper. Thanks be to God my coffee pot turns my cold water into a hot caffeinated beverage that helps me start the day off on the right foot.
Tomorrow the mechanic will come, and my hot water will return.
Until then, I wait.
As I wait, I am mindful of those who are currently living in fear that their water will be turned off because of, well, the effects of the pandemic. While I wait for my hot water, I wonder what I can do to help make sure water isn’t turned off on our neighbors during this pandemic because of situations beyond their control. I am mindful that while I lament another day without a hot shower, others worry about not having any water at all.
As I ponder, my thoughts go to the Isaiah text. God wants justice for God’s people. The text speaks of how the worship of the people became corrupt, and thus, worthless. In verse 15, God says, “even though you make many prayers, I will not listen…” God wants action. Action that is just and good:
“ learn to do good;
seek justice,
rescue the
oppressed,
defend the orphan,
plead for the
widow.”
The thing about God is that God is relational—conversational.
“Come now, let us argue it out,
says the Holy One….”
Even though the people hurt God, God still invites them to dialogue. And the conversation in this instance isn’t about airing grievances—it is about righting what is wrong—a return to God’s command to do what is good and just.
Tonight, when I would be showering, after the Advent candle is lit, I will research how I can bring the theoretical of the season to the practical—provide help to those who don’t or won’t have any water at all.
While we wait, let us come together and do the good and just work coming to us in the Christ child.
[If you are interested in helping provide water to folx during this pandemic, might you consider giving through this organization: The Navajo Water Project.]
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