People of Jerusalem, open your gates!
Repair the road to the city and clear it of stones;
Raise a banner to help the nations find their way.
Here is what the LORD has said for all the earth to hear:
“Soon I will come to save the city of Zion, and to reward you.
Then you will be called,
‘The LORD’s Own People, The Ones He Rescued!’
Your city will be known as a good place to live and a city full of people. “
Isaiah 62: 10-12
Reflect on the word REPAIRING for a few moments.
Many workers are employed in preparing roads and highways. Much planning needs to be done, security precautions need to be put in place, strategies to meet emergencies to be developed, signs and directions to be installed. Despite good construction work, roads need constant monitoring and repair.
Our own roads through life need constant monitoring and repair. We may develop pot-holes in attitudes to racial and ethnic differences, roadblocks to the cries of people in need in our own neighborhood. Become blind to signposts of sexism, racism, discrimination and exploitation. Take deliberate detours to avoid the scourge of violence against children and women.
Preparing to celebrate Christ’s incarnation is also about preparing and repairing our own pathways of life. Whenever we recognize the presence of God another pathway has been prepared. How long will it take me to prepare for the birth of Christ in my life?
Give me the vision and commitment, God, to be diligent in preparation and faithful in waiting for you.
© Ranjini Wickramaratne-Rebera
For a number of years, our dear friend Ranjini Rebera wrote Biblical reflections for the use of Gungahlin Uniting Church and others, usually for Advent and Lent. We were privileged to receive these, as Ranjini had a working history of writing and teaching on a global stage. Each time she completed the considerable work on one of these studies for us she would announce firmly, ‘That’s it. That is the last one I’m writing. No more. End of story!’ But as Advent or Lent came around again she would start hinting that she’d had an idea for a reflection – and she would write another one.
When she completed a Reflection for Lent 2021, we were not to know that this really was the last one. Ranjini died on 13 October 2021. We miss her intellect, her leadership, her vivid personality, her artistic gifts, her deep faith and her pastoral heart. We have lost some colour from our world.
The Gungahlin Uniting Church Worship Team, where Ranjini served for several years, offers Ranjini’s study material, first produced in 2015, as we give thanks for her life shared among us.