Stations of Creation

The Lion and the Lamb

“The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearlingtogether; and a little child will lead them.” (Isaiah 11:6)

It may seem an impossibility for a lion and a lamb to lie down together although social media often throws up an array of animal video clips of cats and ducks and other unusual pairs apparently acting as the best of friends.  The image, though, remains a staggering, and staggeringly impossible image it seems.  A fairy tale world for those offended by the realities of the natural world, a display of Disney proportions to feed our fantasies.  It does away with natural inclinations and the instinctive thirst for survival to provide an image of peace and reconciliation between the hunter and the prey, the aggressor and the aggressed, the violent and the victim.  A new world is being created.

The presence of those children within the care being provided by their parents reminds us of the responsibility of all of us to act now for the sake of future generations, for our children, and those still yet to be born, to halt the environmental crisis which for so long has been looming.  In recent times, the voice of the young has been the loudest, like the little child of Isaiah’s prophecy leading the symbolic wolf and lamb, the leopard and goat, the calf and the lion to a new and transformed world.

We are receiving a fresh call to renew our friendship with the land and with one another, and to care for the poor whose hands more often than not are driven to work the earth, and who are first affected by the effects of global environmental disasters. “Strengthen the weak hands,” says Isaiah’s prophecy, “and make firm the feeble knees.  Say to those who are of a fearful heart, ‘Be strong, do not fear!”

Prayer

Lord God, when we have failed to care for the fruits of the earth and the beauties of the your creation, forgive us.  Through word and action, may we do all that we are asked to d.  May we dispel fear, shout for justice, and work together for the sake of the whole world, as we seek to give glory to your name.  Through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.