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Read Isaiah 11:1-9. The image of the “peaceable kingdom” is a verdant, hopeful one. Predators and prey play together. The wolf and the lamb accompany each other. The child plays at the adder’s nest. There is no more violence. There is no more inequity. Only goodness and community exist. Isaiah shares this vision at a time of great worry and threat. While the Assyrian army is encroaching upon God’s people, their king shows little leadership or faith. The future looks grim. Yet Isaiah speaks of a sprout emerging from a dead tree stump. This tiny bit of hope persists, like life bursting out of death. In this beautiful vision of a community of creatures living together and flourishing, we hear hope for what is possible with God.
We can’t work toward a world we can’t imagine. The dream of a world of deep kinship and mutuality, a world of shared flourishing among species, can be our north star. So much is possible. Now, as in Isaiah’s day, God makes roots from stumps, liberates people from captivity, and brings life from death. By expanding our imagination, our actions and courage will grow too.
This message is excerpted from the Bible study “Scripture and nature: Teachers of faith” by Sara Olson-Smith in the January/February 2024 Gather magazine.