The Wolf and the Lamb

One of the most beautiful images from the Prophet Isaiah depicts peace and harmony between natural predators and prey: "Then the wolf shall be a guest of the lamb,/ and the leopard shall lie down with the kid;/ The calf and the young lion shall browse together,/with a little child to guide them." (Is 11: 6) Isaiah is describing the fullness of the messianic age, when strife and violence have vanished and all have learned to live in peace. Isaiah wrote 700 years before the birth of Jesus, and roughly 2,700 years later, this prophecy remains unfulfilled, yet we continue to repeat it each Advent, longing and hoping that some day it will come to pass. As things usually happen little by little, perhaps a start would be to recognize the wolf and the lamb within ourselves. Part of Advent is to take "the journey inward," to look inside of ourselves at the shadows and cobwebs that are part of our inner core. We discover what Saint Paul so aptly described: "...I do not do the good I want, but I do the evil I do not want." (Rm 7:19) The wolf and the lamb are definitely at odds with each other. Acknowledging this, we also realize that alone we have no power to resolve this inner conflict. Paul continues, "Miserable one that I am! Who will deliver me from this mortal body? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord." (Rm 7: 24-25). We need the advent of "the child who will lead them", the coming of Jesus with his healing and the power of his love and grace to bring the harmony we lack but for which we yearn. Come, Lord Jesus, tame the wolf in me that it might become the guest of the lamb.
Bro. Rene