Just Wait

 

I have a ‘thing’ about the omitted material in the Daily Office Readings. I have occasionally gone on rants about it, but I’m finding that I can’t sustain the energy to object any longer. (Nevertheless, I still feel that it’s a mistake to ignore portions of Scripture right out of existence, especially without giving any explanation or justification for such censorship. I was never able to find any rationale for it, or even any admission of who made the editorial decisions, and why, even after some fairly intense research.)

It’s Advent now, which is generally considered a season of waiting, a ‘penitential’ season to be marked by reflection and quietude; a season of allowing hidden things to emerge out of silence.  So, I thought it might be apt to take the time to peer between the lines, and allow the hidden verses to emerge out of their inexplicable silence.

Today’s reading (DOR; Monday, 2 Advent, Year One— Isaiah 5:8-12, 18-23) omits verses 13-17:

( ¹¹ Woe to those who get up early to pursue intoxicating liquor; who stay up late at night, until wine inflames them. ¹² They have lutes and lyres, drums and flutes, and wine at their parties; but they pay no attention to how Adonai works and never look at what his hands have made. )

¹³ For such lack of knowledge my people go into exile; this is also why their respected men starve and their masses are parched from thirst. ¹⁴ Therefore Sh’ol has enlarged itself and opened its limitless jaws and down go their nobles and masses, along with their noise and revels. ¹⁵ The masses are lowered, the nobles are humbled — proud looks will be brought down. ¹⁶ But Adonai-Tzva’ot is exalted through justice, God the Holy One is consecrated through righteousness. ¹⁷ Then lambs will be able to feed as if they were in their own pasture, and those wandering through will eat from the ruined fields of the overfed.

( ¹⁸ Woe to those who begin by pulling at transgression with a thread, but end by dragging sin along as if with a cart rope. ¹⁹ They say, “We want God to speed up his work, to hurry it along, so we can see it!  We want the Holy One of Isra’el’s plan to come true right now, so we can be sure of it!”)

“Wanderers, grazing in the ruined fields of the overfed”—

Well, there are lots of ruined fields right now. I’m not sure that these verses are meant to reassure. It seems more like they paint a vision of desolation. Nobody wins.

Orphans forage through ragged remnants in abandoned shops as if they owned the place, while vagrants scavenge through dumpsters full of wasted delicacies.

We’ve loaded up everything we thought we could salvage, and dragged ourselves out of sight, but the jaws of misery just keep on opening wider and wider, swallowing up all comfort.  

We are impatient, tired of waiting. We want this to be over, right now.

Sounds a little bit like Covid-19, doesn’t it? Nevertheless, silence is still silence, and waiting is still waiting. It occurred to me that maybe it’s not about waiting for something to be over, or waiting for good things to happen. Maybe it’s just about waiting. Just that. Not waiting for anything.

So, I guess I’ll just wait……