Listening is so darn hard. It always seems the next comment might be more interesting-whether my own or another's-if only the speaker would hurry up. When Isaiah suggests the way to justice is listening to him because "a teaching will go out," I'm inclined to hope he'll get to the point right away. Justice is desirable, but complicated.
Professionally I live in the clipped conversations of social media because travel journalism fuels decision-making in short bursts to thousands of followers as much as in long detailed magazine reporting about destinations to visit. There is a good chance that means my habits impede deep listening. Thinking "outside the manger" probably asks something different of me-another response to more fully grasp Isaiah's suggestion about justice "for a light to the peoples."
People in Isaiah's day waited better than I do. For sure the folks waiting with Moses at Mount Nebo did, and their accommodations lacked luxury. Listening for word of water, for what's next, for that elusive promised light really mattered in the vast space of the Promised Land. Moses took off to talk with God and the people had to wait before listening.
I once stood where they did in what today is the Kingdom of Jordan, so now I can take to the edges of the manger the way I felt in that dry, desert with only a few olive trees, imagining their exodus. I craved silence: no tour guides or other travelers since I was hoping to recognize the Holy Spirit on a wisp of Middle Eastern wind. Moses' people craved information. I wanted only the silent space between my thoughts. We listened differently, I suspect, because of our circumstances.
Then along comes Isaiah also telling me the "coastlands wait for me, "so I have reason to decide that listening for clues to discover justice happens in various ways in different places. The waiting part undergirds the listening. I am learning to wait to hear anything at all, and just as importantly, to wait while listening fully and completely. I might open a little space for justice "outside the manger" if I try.
