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Window nº 3
| Advent 1: Isaiah 2:1-5 and Angola The coast of south-west Ireland once stood on the edge of the medieval world. Or almost. A few miles out to sea was Skellig Michael, a rocky island monastery named after the archangel whose trumpet call would signal the second advent of Christ in glory. Successive generations survived the harsh conditions with faithful expectation, but by the 13th century the last of them had gone. Nobody knows for certain why the monks departed, but some believe they just got tired of waiting. It’s always tempting to give up in the face of unrelenting monotony, but it is against such apathy that Advent comes as a gift. This is a season of waiting, but not of inactivity. It’s a time to prepare for Christmas, but a plethora of 25-day calendars mean that Christ’s birthday will hardly take us by surprise. Surely the season has more to say to Christians than ‘keep your head down until angelic trumpets summon the apocalypse’. In his prophecy, Isaiah gives us the directions to much deeper meanings today. He pictures people streaming back to God’s holy mountain. The verb employed can mean to flow like a river or to shine with joy; but either way, the implication is that as they draw closer to God, pilgrims will be thoroughly transformed. It’s as though they wake to see the world sleepwalking into violence and injustice but, having seen the danger, their spirits are now restless for something more than swords and spears: they long for the fullness of shalom that God has purposed for the Earth. Advent is given to actively encourage that longing in us. We sing ‘O come, o come Emmanuel’, come God and be with us. But if God responds to such a plea, then our deepest desires reflect the divine thirst for peace and reconciliation. We will ache for the human ingenuity that once fashioned weapons of destruction to bring forth new tools and technologies that will nurture life in all its fullness. We will yearn for tanks to become tractors and missiles to turn into water-pumps. And we might glimpse a prophetic imagination of how costly stockpiles of chemical annihilation might be beaten into the pharmaceuticals needed to transform the lives of the 34 million people worldwide living with HIV. For as well as the beginning of Advent, last Sunday was also World AIDS Day. The prophetic imagining of Isaiah is a necessary secret for resisting the monotony of the world today. It’s also a source of hope to see the Earth transformed. And perhaps nowhere deserves to see such transformation more than Angola. Forty years of conflict decimated national infrastructures and social cohesion, generations were left uneducated and millions were displaced. But while 11 years of peace have seen Angola emerge as Africa’s third-largest economy, few of its people, least of all its young women, have seen the benefits of this wealth. High adolescent fertility rates along with a low use of contraceptives means the threats of pregnancy and HIV are ever present. Faced with a daily absence of change, it would be easy for Angolans to give up. But Christian Aid partner Women’s Christian Union (UCF) is bringing tangible transformation to many lives. Its Girls Building Bridges programme raises the self-esteem of young women, teaching them important life skills, including sex education designed to prevent HIV and underage pregnancies. Recent graduates of the programme mentor the next year’s intake. Girls like 13-year-old Dilza testify to the changes they have experienced: ‘Before Girls Building Bridges I didn’t know what was meant by self-esteem, but I have learnt to value myself and trust my judgement.’ Louisa, an early graduate of the course and the first of her neighbourhood to go to university, adds: ‘The course helped me value myself as a woman in society.’ These young Angolans are people walking in the light of God. These are lives actively transformed by the prophetic imagination. These are communities who have discovered that the mountain of the Lord is in their midst. They have grasped the gift of Advent and they share it with us as we actively await the fulfilment of God’s shalom. (c) Christian Aid |
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