Want to change the world? Want to make a difference? Take a long loving look around and let wisdom lead you!
We can wrap simple gifts in beautiful reusable bags and recycled ribbon and enjoy the gift giving, knowing that we make a difference while expressing our affection for one another.
But maybe what is more in keeping with this week’s reading is to look around at the economic systems and biases that are part of our everyday experience and let wisdom lead us.
Today’s first reading (Isaiah 11:1-10) is filled with paradox: the wolf shall be the guest of the lamb, the lion shall eat hay like the ox, the child lay his hand on the adder’s lair. Power and gentleness, roaring sounds and plodding journeys, innocence 
and venom. This juxtaposition is also all around us.
The poor sleep under tents sheltering them from rain and snow; while I snuggle in a warm bed listening to the wind tap on my window.
The middle aged woman works three different jobs to make ends meet while corporations exceed the proposed growth in wealth.
What the prophet Isaiah holds out for us is, that as sure as the water covers the sea all will be well.
And who will bring about that “wellness”?
December 10th is the annual Human Rights Day. We might choose to write letters for Amnesty International’s petitions, or we might choose to attend a local conversation about precarious work situations, or we might lend a hand to a Habitat build, or we might speak to our federal government representatives about setting a direct course for Child Care for All.
As followers of Jesus – God’s love poured into humanity – our call is to walk alongside those persons who can identify systems that need to change so that Isaiah’s words are no longer a vision for wholeness in God’s heavenly embrace, but a reality leading into the holiness of God’s earthly embrace.
Christ invites us to be a signal for the nations. Will you let your light shine?
- Sr Loretta Manzara