(A meditation on Jeremiah 31.31-36)
Hate speech and violence are sanctioned
from the highest office in the United States
but days are surely coming …
The planet lurches to the right
but days are surely coming …
An anti-semite kills eleven elderly Jews at worship
but days are surely coming …
St. Margaret’s church in Toronto is assaulted again with racist graffiti
but days are surely coming …
Murder is conspired in royal courts
but days are surely coming …
War on the most vulnerable continues to rage
but days are surely coming …
An epidemic of despair grows unabated
but days are surely coming …
The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when …
I will make a new covenant.
My law is written on their hearts.
They shall be my people and I will be their God.
They shall all know me, from the least to the greatest.
I will forgive.
I will remember their sins no more.
But days are surely coming …
Without a hope of such coming days
I’m not sure how we could survive the days that are here.
But how can we trust these words?
Is there any sign that such days are surely coming?
I know, I know, these are promises from God,
but its getting increasingly difficult to believe such promises.
Well, replies the Holy One, notice this:
the earth continues on its rotational journey.
Every day the earth completes it rotation on its own axis.
Every year the earth completes its rotational orbit around the sun.
The sun comes up every morning
and sets every evening.
The tides of the oceans continue their ceaseless
cycle of ebb and flow.
That, says the Creator, is the guarantor of my promise.
As sure as we are that the sun will rise
tomorrow morning at 7.43am,
so the days are surely coming when
love will replace hate,
justice will dethrone oppression
neighbourliness will banish all intolerance,
respect and honour will overthrow racism,
life will overwhelm death,
the last shall be first,
and hope will flower out of our despair.
Our hope in the days that are surely coming
is rooted and grounded in the very faithfulness of creation.
Jeremiah is sure that a day of new covenant will come
because God remains faithful to the covenant with all of creation.
So, friends, to foster such hope,
go for a walk in a park,
sit among the trees,
go down to the lake,
enjoy the soft rain on your cheeks,
marvel at the changing colours of the leaves,
get up before the sun,
and worship while it rises.
For days are surely coming …
