Our
expectations are not high.
Should
a prophet like John appear in our midst
to
tell us how we should modify our lifestyles
so
that the whole planet and all its people might benefit;
we
would not listen.
We
would dismiss him,
deny
any truth in her message
and
surround ourselves with clever people
to
comfort and reassure us.
We
would prefer, rather, that some Father Christmas fix-it-God
should
descend from the heavens
with
his big red bag of gifts for humankind
and
sort everything out,
(world
peace, climate change, terrorism, the poor,
domestic
violence and such);
but
most of us don't really expect that to happen.
In
the end we find ourselves reluctantly admitting
that
the prophet might have been right,
and
that change
and
fruitfulness
and
real hope
might
have something to do with the serious work
of
repentance.
But,
then again . . .
©
Ken Rookes 2015
