On Crying Out in the Wilderness
Isaiah 40:3 (NRSVUE) “A voice cries out: ‘In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord ; make straight in the desert a highway for our God…’” That familiar verse has been on my mind today. Immortalized in George Frederick Handel’s Oratorio, “Messiah,” it’s from the prologue to what is known as “Deutero (Second) Isaiah” (chapters 40-55). It came from the school of Isaiah’s disciples, dating around the end of Babylonian exile. Its mood is both encouraging and empty. Encouraging because it lifts up a hope for a coming of God and calls for preparation. Empty because the announcement is made in the wilderness. What image comes to mind as you read about a voice crying out in the wilderness? I see a lone figure standing in some barren landscape, all alone, crying out some important message, and I’m reminded of the philosophical discussion starter, “If a tree falls in the wilderness and no one is around to hear it, does ...