When our dog was a puppy, she once came across a doe in our back yard. Not knowing this creature, never having seen one before, she lay down in the grass very carefully and cautiously. Only ten yards apart, the two animals gazed at each other with unbridled curiosity for a full minute or two. It was cute to watch them checking out each other with an innocent wonder that only the young ones have. The peaceful gazing lasted much longer than I thought, but of course, didn’t last forever. At some point the dog jumped and the deer ran away. And that’s how it is supposed to be, right? A dog is not supposed to be friends with a deer. Only in heaven!
Well, let’s look at heaven as seen by the prophet Isaiah, who included some incredibly beautiful images in his vision of heaven in Isaiah 11. In his scenario, dog and deer are good friends, wolf and lamb sleep side by side, leopard and little child, cow and bear, infant and snake, hunter and prey are next to each other, peacefully united. There is a dreamy otherworldliness to this text, which once caused comedian Woody Allen to quip, famously, “The wolf shall lie down with the lamb. But the problem is: the lamb won’t get much sleep!”
I was wondering why Isaiah shared this vision if it is so far out of this world’s realm of possibility. I mean, can we do anything with it, except to appreciate it for its “otherness?” I am quite sure Syrian President Assad won’t be swayed by it, nor the rebels that are fighting him. I am sure the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un won’t take Isaiah up on his vision and undo his nuclear program, nor will the American president, whether incumbent or elect, count on that. It just wouldn’t be responsible to dream of such things in the real world. So, what value has this vision? It can’t be just about giving us warm and fuzzy feelings during advent; at least, that wouldn’t cut it for me.
Here is what I think… This vision is like a dream, and dreams come from the depth of the unconscious. In dreams, we don’t play by the rules of what’s possible or impossible, what makes sense and what not – and isn’t that the beauty of it? In dreams, people can get along that wouldn’t be close in real life. Or people might appear that you haven’t seen in 30 years. Last week I had a vivid dream of being in another country on a crazy adventure. I don’t have those dreams very often, so when they come, I treasure them. But as I tried to reconstruct the wondrous journey in the morning, I noticed that the geography of my dream was totally off kilter. I was going down to Croatia to get to Sweden or something like that. Don’t ask me why. I know what you think – my sense of orientation is bad! But it isn’t that bad! – Dreams are like that. The normal rules don’t apply. Dreams express something more precious than accuracy and rationality: they voice our fears, our yearnings, our hopes, our desires, our spiritual path.
That’s how we need to look at this passage from Isaiah 11. This passage is so important because it expresses a universal yearning for peace, a deep desire for an end to violence, a longing for unity. This dream speaks from the divine part of our unconscious, the part that is aligned with God. God wants us to live in peace and, God knows, we have a long way to go. The lambs of this world still need lots of protection; the predators of this world still need to be reined in.
So, can this vision ever become true? Very doubtful, based on our record. Is it mere wishful-thinking? It is much more than wishful-thinking. Martin Luther King Jr., as we all know, once said: “I have a dream!” – and while that dream included a lot of wishful-thinking, it no doubt had an impact on the audience, and indeed, on our entire country because he put his yearnings into words and made them seem attainable. On this Sunday of advent when we light the candle of peace, let us turn our yearnings for peace into prayers and into peaceful actions wherever we can. And find ways to express our longing for peace in the world. It’s God’s will!
So here is a story… One day the most peaceful inhabitants from the Earth asked one very powerful wizard to stop all wars and bloodshed on the planet. – “It is simple,” – he said. — “I will destroy all weapons on the Earth, and nobody will be able to fight anymore.” – “That would be great!” people exclaimed. The magic wand’s wave – and this was done.
There was a peace on the planet for three days, while the majority of those who were prone to fight, sought and could not find a weapon. When they understood they’d lost it forever, they made spears of young trees and started to fight again. – When the wizard heard this bad news, he said: “Do not worry. I will destroy all young trees, so that they will not be able to fight.”
After two or three days of useless search for young trees, rebellious people started to cut giant trees, make batons from them, and the bloodshed started again. The Wizard destroyed all big trees. Then humans made knives and swords of metal. He destroyed all metal on the planet. People made slings and began to throw stones at each other. It was necessary to destroy the stones, too. And then peacekeepers began to worry: all trees have disappeared; there is no metal and stones. How to live, what to eat now? There will be no vegetation soon, and people will die without even fighting. No, this is a wrong solution of the problem.
The Wizard became confused: “I don’t know what to do now. I would have destroyed all humanity, but, unfortunately, it’s not in my power!” The peacekeepers fell into despair; they didn’t know what to do either. And then one clever kid turned to the Wizard.
“I know what you should do. Let people feel, how others perceive their actions. If one person hurt someone, let him feel the same pain, and if he brings joy to someone, let him feel the same joy. So no one will hurt each other, because he will feel the pain immediately too and would have to stop.”
All people were inspired with the greatness of kid’s thought, and the wizard realized his idea. He returned all trees, stones and metals. Since that day nobody on the planet tried to hurt his neighbor, because he would have to feel the same pain too. People began to help each other, because they liked the sense of joy they felt at this moment. And they began to live in harmony and joy.”
I like this story because it teaches empathy. Conflicts will never be solved until people learn to put themselves into the shoes of their opponents, until they feel each other’s pain. Can we be people who practice empathy and maybe even teach by example? Will it make a difference? When Isaiah woke up from his dream, the lambs still stayed away from the wolves; mothers still told their children to be careful and avoid poisonous snakes. The political adversaries of his lifetime were still at each other’s throat. But in him lived a powerful yearning for peace and for unity. As Christians we need to adopt that yearning and make it something we nurture and treasure and guide us. We are no wizards after all. We can’t make peace on earth. But we can give peace a home in our hearts and souls. And that’s a start.
Amen.