True Colors of Faith: Violet

A voice cries out:
‘In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord,
make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
Every valley shall be lifted up,
and every mountain and hill be made low;
the uneven ground shall become level,
and the rough places a plain.
Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
and all people shall see it together,
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.’ --Isaiah 40: 3-5

This passage from Isaiah is often heard in our liturgical calendar during Advent, a season in the Episcopal Church where it's customary for the clergy to be in purple stoles (although in my recent experience they are opting for blue, and using purple during Lent).
Regardless, these are words that have become imprinted on my brain and, like the vine, are a source inside me, especially when the winds of change begin blowing at near-hurricane force. I think of the upcoming consecration in Los Angeles of Rev. Canon Mary Glasspool and, in my heart, I know that means that a valley has been lifted up and a mountain made low. Things really are changing in the Episcopal Church... no matter what any individual bishop or priest may want to believe.
This change, I will call it a "purple change" (or violet, or lavender), is not without pain to some. But then, in my own experience, I think that the Holy Spirit doesn't always push lightly. Sometimes a gentle nudge here, and then sometimes a full body slam. Or blindness inflicted on the road to Damascus. And yet, the mantra that is repeated from one end of the Scriptures to the other is "do not fear":


Get you up to a high mountain,
O Zion, herald of good tidings;
lift up your voice with strength,
O Jerusalem, herald of good tidings,
lift it up, do not fear;
say to the cities of Judah,
‘Here is your God!’--Isaiah 40:9


Here is the God who will gather all the lambs and lead the mother sheep. And not to be slaughtered by the enemies of Love. The roaring lion does go on the prowl looking for the lamb that has wandered away from the flock. The wolf will dress up in the clothing of a sheep in an effort to deceive and devour the flock that was to be tended. All the more reason for us to place our belief not in people, but to remember that it is God who has given all things. In this God have I trusted. In this God am I tested. And in this God, have I known the realness of God's unconditional and multi-colored Love. May you know it in your life, too.