Waiting for Healing

It all started with a tweet. On March 16, 2020, The user @ikaveri posted a picture from Venice, saying,

“Here’s an unexpected side effect of the pandemic: the water’s flowing through the canals of Venice is clear for the first time in forever. The fish are visible the swans returned.”

The problem: The photo and its sentiment were fake.

The upside: a new même was born! At first, people sympathetic to the original poster (OP) started posting other sorta-made-up photos, one of a herd of elephants rebounding in China.

And then, suddenly, come the responses that clearly know that these posts are made up.

A picture of two submerged scooters, saying “With everyone on lockdown the scooters are finally returning to the river. Nature is healing.”

A photo of time square filled with dinosaurs, saying nature has returned and once again, “The earth is healing.”

A giant rubber ducky under the Tower Bridge in London, again with the caption, “Nature is healing.”

What can I say? The internet contains multitudes, and when we’re all locked down, we had extra time on our hands.

This week's reading from Isaiah speaks of God’s healing poured out upon a weary world. Much like us during the pandemic, the Israelites are in a bad spot. They had been conquered and exiled, far from the promised land. They were looking for a little hope, a little levity, they were waiting to see what God was doing next. Again, much like that time when we were kept from our loved ones.

This passage from Isaiah tells of a future when people will be healed and made whole:

3 Strengthen the weak hands

  and make firm the feeble knees.

 4 Say to those who are of a fearful heart,

  “Be strong, do not fear!

 Here is your God. (Isaiah 35:3-4 NRSVUE)

I wonder if somewhere there is a physical therapist with an Isaiah 35:3 tattoo.

Healing comes as preparation for the tremendous power of the Lord. But it’s not just reserved for people.

Throughout the rest of this passage, we have the literal promise of the nature is healing même come true. Human and ecological healing occur hand-in-hand.

Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,

  and the ears of the deaf shall be opened;

 6 then the lame shall leap like a deer,

  and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy.

 For waters shall break forth in the wilderness

  and streams in the desert;

 7 the burning sand shall become a pool

  and the thirsty ground springs of water;

 the haunt of jackals shall become a swamp;

  the grass shall become reeds and rushes. (Isaiah 35:5-7 NRSVUE)

It’s not one or the other, humankind over and above creation, but rather, the biblical witness is that which biologists and scientists know all-to-well. We are inseparable from the rest of the world, everything we are and everything we do is connected to all that has come before and will come after us. And God’s promise of healing and restoration covers it all.

Throughout these “nature is healing” mêmes, they often added the phrase, “We are the virus.” Meaning, human life had damaged nature, and so when humankind withdraws from nature, nature heals. We are the problem.

God offers another perspective. That it is not humankind versus nature, but rather humankind in nature. Lord knows the balance between the two is out of whack. We have failed to honor our place in creation. But God promises to heal it all, our bodies, and the world around us.

So as we wait for Gods’ healing, let us remember that we do not wait alone. We wait with each other, but we also wait with brother tree and sister river. With cousin jackal and uncle lion. And one day, all God's family will be restored. Nature will truly be healed. And not just rubber shoes floating in the river, marking a return of the croc to the city. But all of it, harmonious and whole.

Here at St. Stephen’s, we live out God’s healing grace. This past fall, we celebrated the Season of Creation, celebrating our integration with all God made. As part of last year’s Bishop’s challenge, we introduced a meatless Sunday Social and talked about the impact animal husbandry has on our planet. We also care for each other when sick, visiting people in the hospital, bringing homebound members communion, and ensuring our welcome on Sunday morning extends to people of varying gifts and abilities.

Join us this Sunday for a special service of healing and reconciliation at 9:30 AM.