Mtr Kelli Joyce

Dear friends in Christ,

One of today’s readings for the feast of Saint James of Jerusalem is from Isaiah 65 - and it’s one of my favorite passages in all of scripture.

“They shall build houses and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit. They shall not build and another inhabit; they shall not plant and another eat... The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, the lion shall eat straw like the ox.”

It is easy to look at the challenges and tragedies of the world and say “Well, that’s just how it is.” So much of the suffering we see around us seems to be the results of systems and realities that cannot be changed. People work, and others reap the benefits. Wolves and lions eat lambs, not straw. Exploitation and violence and pain are not only all around us, they seem woven into the very fabric of creation itself.

Not so, Isaiah says. This is not what we were created for. In the world as God wants it, workers will enjoy the full fruits of their own labors, and the tragedy of death as we know it will be undone. Even those parts of creation that we know to be totally dependent on killing for their own survival - obligate carnivores like wolves - will sustain themselves non-violently, living at peace with the more vulnerable.

If this is what God wants, then it should be what we want too. And not just in an abstract way, where we say “ah, that would be nice,” but live our lives as if such a world is impossible. We should want this world of economic and ecological justice with our whole hearts, and order our lives toward that desire. The transformation will depend on God, not us - but we are still called to do our part.

In peace,
Mtr. Kelli