Isaiah 40:1-11, Psalm 85, Mark 1: 1-8
John the Baptist calls us to repent, to allow a metanoia, a change of heart. How do we make that happen, though? We cannot just will our heart to change and expect a magic trick to have occurred.
The psalm offers us some guidance. The word shuv is often, as it is here, translated as repent, but in a stricter sense of the original Hebrew, it refers to the physical action of turning back to or towards (5, 6). When John calls us to repent, he is encouraging us to turn back to the Lord. Changing my heart is beyond my power but I can turn…it is a physical and spiritual action within my power. The implication is that our natural inclination, our intuition and instinct is to face the Lord; when we sin or do not live up to the ideals of scripture we have ‘turned away.’
To turn to the first reading, in reference to chapter 40, verses 3-11 in the Book of Isiah, the Paulist Biblical Commentary states, “Here, the revelation of God’s glory and God’s activity are not separate from each other, through the transformation of the landscape, all people will be able to see God’s glory.” This implies action on the Lord’s part… He is gathering and carrying and leading.
The actions in these readings, taken as one whole, provide so much how-to information in regard to our repentance task list. The Lord is doing all the work… gathering, carrying, leading. All’s we have to do is turn towards Him, face Him, notice His presence… while He does all the work. We can do that, right?
Journal Questions:
Does the idea of turning back to God resonate with me? If I am not currently facing the Lord, whom am I facing? When I speak with the Lord about it, what understandings come to me?
Writing to Pray 