This morning the prophet cries, "Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down, so that the mountains tremble at your presence -" as the psalmist laments, "O Lord, God of hosts, *how long will you be angry despite the prayers of your people?” Thus begins our time of Advent. Israel is in grave difficulty, still suffering the consequences of exile, while Jerusalem remains in ruins while its people wonders if, and when, Yahweh will act on their behalf. As I listen to the lament of ancient Israel, I have to wonder: Our story today is very different. Tension continues to grow between the United States and North Korea, the media they're back to talking about war. Almost every week our national news reports report stories of mass shootings both here at home and around the world. As we transition from the artificial to the natural world, the last four months have been fraught with storms, floods and fires. All of this leads us to wonder with ancient Israel, where is God, and when will God finally prevail over the darkness of this land at a time when we are told once again to wait and watch for God to intervene. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original EssayBut are we waiting and searching for the right thing? It is right to desire that the intervention of the Divine occurs as if through a tear in the sky. Coming in a way that defies the laws of nature. Is it right to ask the Almighty to push some kind of big reset button for creation so that the world is rebooted and brought back to what God intended? The answer to this, the prophet tells us, is no. Instead, it implies that redemption is a slow process, a process that happens all around us, of which we are virtually unaware. In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus declares that we can "know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but we cannot interpret the signs of the times." In this morning's passage from Isaiah we are told that God is the potter and we, with all creation, are the clay being molded and reformed into what God intended. Yes, declares the prophet, Israel will be restored. Yes, we are told at each Advent, the kingdom of God will come, or better yet, as this morning's Gospel suggests, the kingdom of God is already present, but not complete, as we advance each day towards its fulfillment. All we have to do is look for signs the same way we look for signs to know when summer will arrive. That is, when the leaves begin to sprout on the trees. Even though it's only December 3, the signs of summer are already here. When the last autumn leaves fall to the ground, just under the bark, the leaves for next summer have already begun to form. Likewise the signs of the kingdom of God are everywhere around us, we just need to look for the light in the darkness. . .for the subtle signs of God's arrival in the mundane processes of this world. In 2014, Dr. Richard Wiley, gave a homily at my former parish talking about how he astutely believed God intervened through the mundane realities of this world. As a scientist, Dick firmly believed that God created a well-ordered and reliable world. He trusted in a reliable God who worked predictably through creation and believed in something he called natural miracles. To illustrate why he believed in natural miracles, he shared the story of his fifth child's battle with cancer at age two. In the early 1970s there were not many resources available for cancer treatment. Syracuse specialists advised Dick and his wife Jane to simply take the baby home and keep him comfortable as best they could until he died. parishioner. This doctor.