Not So Out Of Reach After All

[Note: We welcome another guest blog today from Rev. Celie! Thanks for sharing your wisdom!]

Every week, or every day, we pray in the Lord’s prayer: “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven!” Today’s first reading from the prophet Isaiah gives me great hope, as it shows how very close that vision is. Indeed, it is almost at our fingertips!

“Lo,” says God, “I am about to create a new heaven and a new earth!”

Sometimes it seems like the gap between earth and heaven is so big, doesn’t it?

And yet, when the prophet describes what heaven-on-earth looks like, painting a picture of a city where God’s will is indeed done, and society mirrors God’s kin-dome—it doesn’t sound so out of reach at all.

In God’s dream for the world, a heavenly city is described as a place where “the things of the past shall not be remembered or come to mind.” In other words, it will be a place where mercy and forgiveness are the rule, not the exception. I meditate on what it would mean for us to live by this spiritual principle now. What would it mean for the prison system? What would it mean for the death penalty? What would it mean for all of us, who so often feel trapped in the past, dwelling on an error we made long ago?

“I created [the city] to be a joy, and its people to be a delight,” says God. “No longer shall the sound of weeping be heard there.” What tears does God long to wipe away in our own city? I think of the parents grieving children lost to gun violence, the families struggling to put food on the table, and those who confront death as an ever-present possibility. “No longer shall there be an infant who lives but a few days,” God says, “or an old person who does not round out their full lifetime.” Think of the grim truths we live with: an infant mortality rate for babies of color that is more than double what it is for white babies; the persistence of elder care facilities for the poor that are under-staffed, un-maintained, and rife with safety and code violations. (Did you know that poverty is the fourth-leading cause of death in the United States?) These problems do not need to persist as they do; they are solvable, if we look at the world as Jesus did, making the vulnerable our *first* focus, rather than an afterthought.

The prophet goes on, channeling God’s vision for a city where the people “shall live in houses they build, and eat the fruit of vineyards that they plant.” These are goals within our reach too. Reading that last part of the verse about the vineyard, I think of the many urban farms springing up, and places like the Brady Center (https://www.bradyfarm.org/ ) that our youth group visited last year, where people grow fruits and vegetables in the ‘food deserts’ of the inner city, and eat what they themselves plant. A heavenly city must also include housing for all. I grow more and more convinced as I grow older that housing justice truly is key, if we dream of a world without poverty and suffering. If we want our own city to be “remade” as God envisions, into a place where there are no tears and long cycles of suffering are broken, we need to hold in mind how difficult it is for a person to address ANY other persistent problem in their life—whether substance use disorder, a mental health issue, a broken relationship, an employment or life struggle—if they cannot count on the most basic fact of a warm and safe place of their own. I am thankful for the strides made to offer permanent supportive housing to people dealing with mental health challenges, addiction issues, a history of domestic violence, a transition from incarceration, and chronic homelessness. (You can read more about this approach here: https://www.coalitionforthehomeless.org/get-help/im-in-need-of-housing/eligibility-for-supportive-housing. ) Our own outreaches are connected to this work, as well as the local organizations Person-Centered Housing Options and REACH (Rochester Engaging Action for the Chronically Homeless – https://reachadvocacy.org/). And I have hope for projects such as community land trusts and tenants’ unions (Rochester has one – check it out here) and other initiatives that seek to make housing more accessible and affordable for all.

May we sit with this hopeful truth today: An earth that’s more like heaven really isn’t so far-fetched! And may we keep working to help bring it about.