Susan LaffertyIn December, a treasured necklace from Japan falls on the floor. Breaks.
And I get on my knees. Gathering broken pieces. Fragments.
Trying to put the puzzle back together. But it sits.
Incomplete.
So I place what remains in a bowl. Not ready to give up on it yet. Perhaps a shard or two skittered under a cabinet.
Isaiah. Prophet and poet. Master of prose. Skillfully taking us to ruin and glory.
“The city of chaos is shattered;
Every house is closed to entry.
In the streets they cry for wine.
All joy grows dark;
Earth’s rejoicing goes into exile.
Only desolation remains in the city;
its gate has collapsed in ruins.”
Isaiah 24:10-12
Well-placed words. And we see the broken place. Grieve the curse that consumes the earth and its inhabitants. “…for they have transgressed teachings, overstepped decrees, and broken the permanent covenant” (24:5).
The slow but certain flood of a tsunami moves across the globe today.
I’ve watched videos from the one that marked our lives in 2004. The wave that advanced silently. Powerfully. Into Aceh. The water just kept coming. Pushing further inland. One bright, blue-skied day.
And then, as waves do, it pulled back out to sea. Leaving devastation. Empty communities. Unimaginable loss.
Today. The other tsunami. Changing the topic of our daily conversations. To quarantines and lockdowns. Limiting spread to flatten the curve. Shortages of medical supplies. Death counts.
And I remember the Scripture verses that gave hope to the inexperienced. In the December 2004 tsunami and the year that followed.
