You Will Be Safe

Isaiah 11:1-9

Isaiah 11:1-9 (NRSV): The Peaceable Kingdom

1 A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse,

    and a branch shall grow out of his roots.

2 The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him,

    the spirit of wisdom and understanding,

    the spirit of counsel and might,

    the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.

3 His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.

He shall not judge by what his eyes see

    or decide by what his ears hear,

4 but with righteousness he shall judge for the poor

    and decide with equity for the oppressed of the earth;

he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,

    and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.

5 Righteousness shall be the belt around his waist

    and faithfulness the belt around his loins.

6 The wolf shall live with the lamb;

    the leopard shall lie down with the kid;

the calf and the lion will feed together,

    and a little child shall lead them.

7 The cow and the bear shall graze;

    their young shall lie down together;

    and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.

8 The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp,

    and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder’s den.

9 They will not hurt or destroy

    on all my holy mountain,

for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord

    as the waters cover the sea.

Queries:

What makes a space safe? For whose safety am I concerned?

What is peace? How do I know when it is present? What does it look and feel like?

What does the work of peacemaking require of me and of us?