The psalmist today reminds us that “ . . . peace shall be a pathway for [the Lord’s] feet.” That should be a clue for us of how to respond to the prophet Isaiah’s call to “prepare the way of the Lord.” In the hustle and bustle of our cultural celebration of the season, it likely doesn’t seem very peaceful. That just means we have to be more intentional about our preparations, making time to be present to the Beloved with holy abandon, letting go of the things we may, in the past, have thought were necessary but only served to distract us from the Holy One.

The pathway of Love is a two-way street. As we clear the path to Love before us so that we begin to “make straight in the desert a highway for our God,” we find God coming to us and see that “Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall be level, and the rough places a plain.” We discover that peace reigns in our hearts as we come together with the Divine on the pathway of Love.

This encounter is pregnant with Divine Love. Such an encounter transforms our mind, liberates our heart, and enfolds us with inner calm, “the peace that surpasses all understanding” (Phil.4:7). Here and now, in this Advent season,

“Enter into the great resounding Silence,

be still and know true peace;

Know that all-embracing life of Love;

And raise your voice in grateful acclamation of praise!

Amen.

(Nan Merrill’s Psalms for Praying, Psalm 119:174-175)