Advent Reflection: Friday, December 3

12/03/2021

As Saint Louis University embraces the holiday season, students, faculty and staff members were asked to share reflections on selected readings. Today James Meinert, Co-Founder of Undo Bias and Partner in Antiracism Efforts with SLU Campus Ministry, reflects on First Reading, Isaiah 29:17-24.

Reading for Friday, Dec. 3, 2021

First Reading, Isaiah 29:17-24

Thus says the Lord GOD:

But a very little while,

and Lebanon shall be changed into an orchard,

and the orchard be regarded as a forest!

On that day the deaf shall hear

the words of a book;

And out of gloom and darkness,

the eyes of the blind shall see.

The lowly will ever find joy in the LORD,

and the poor rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.

For the tyrant will be no more

and the arrogant will have gone;

All who are alert to do evil will be cut off,

those whose mere word condemns a man,

Who ensnare his defender at the gate,

and leave the just man with an empty claim.

Therefore thus says the LORD,

the God of the house of Jacob,

who redeemed Abraham:

Now Jacob shall have nothing to be ashamed of,

nor shall his face grow pale.

When his children see

the work of my hands in his midst,

They shall keep my name holy;

they shall reverence the Holy One of Jacob,

and be in awe of the God of Israel.

Those who err in spirit shall acquire understanding,

and those who find fault shall receive instruction.

Reflection

“Those who err in spirit shall acquire understanding,
and those who find fault shall receive instruction”

As someone who is often erring in spirit, which to me means allowing my spirit to sink into discouragement and despair, I am grateful when I “acquire understanding;” i.e., when my soul receives instruction. I often feel defeated by the many challenges we face — systemic racism, the climate crisis, war, famine, inequity, genocide. I often cannot help but think of the big problems — the great sufferings humans face.

But I also have a two-year-old daughter. And so I cannot help but delight in life, too. We sat tonight, my daughter and I, on some small rocks that line a sidewalk near SLU and had a pretend tea party, sipping from our rocks, clinking our rocks and saying “cheers!”

My soul receives instruction. As Ross Gay says in his Book of Delights, “The more you study delight, the more delight there is to study … I felt my life to be more full of delight. Not without sorrow or fear or pain or loss. But more full of delight.”

So do not ignore the pain and suffering of the world, but do not stop there. Notice delight. Notice the infinite small ways that we are surrounded by goodness. Receive instruction. And, as James Baldwin said, “Invent hope every day.”

-- James Meinert, Co-Founder of Undo Bias and Partner in Antiracism Efforts with SLU Campus Ministry

Newslink will be running select reflections through Advent. All the reflections can be found on the Mission and Identity Facebook page.