Advent thoughts – Tuesday of Advent 1

For there is no truth in their mouth; *
there is destruction in their heart;
Their throat is an open grave; *
they flatter with their tongue.
(Psalm 5:9-10, BCP)

On the Cross by Wang Wei-Zhong
with Psalm verses superimposed

We’ve all had the inner reaction wherein we think: “This man cannot be trusted” or “She’s lying” or “What do they really want?” It is the moment of suspicion. We see it equally in the arts and in life. Seasoned readers of mystery novels spot the telling moment when someone attempts misdirection and intuitive experience causes the reader to hear all manner of alarm bells. Moviegoers have that impulse to shout at the screen, “No! Don’t fall for it. It’s a lie.” Deceit is, alas, standard fare in the corporate world and bureaucracies of very stripe. It infects communities of every size and poisons family life.

“There is no truth in their mouth.”

This is such a damning summation—the ancient Israelite version of the joke about how you tell when a certain person is lying. (When his/her lips are moving.) Nothing honest comes out.

From this summation the psalmist moves to the underlying reality: “there is destruction in their hearts.” No life-giving, grace-working purpose is involved. The truth is unveiled as we realize “their throat is an open grave.” It is all cloaked, of course, in what we want to believe, which is why “they flatter with their tongue.”

Is this a psalm or a commentary on presidential primary campaigns? Perhaps it is a shockingly frank evaluation of consultants making presentations to corporate boards. Or… is it about you and me?

After all, seasons of preparation are not intended for us to find fault with others (though it is a time for us to look at reality head on). Advent, like Lent, is given to us so we can make our own hearts ready for God. Ours, not somebody else’s.

Where shall we look for signs of the Redeemer’s coming?

Perhaps not east, nor in the heavens, nor in the rhythms of fig trees or the fate of temples, nor in the pages of sacred texts, though all of these may offer clues.

The signs we need pay attention to lie within. If we would make ready we must ask ourselves if what comes out of our mouths is truth. Are our throats attuned to life or to death? Do we flatter, deceive, distort, divert, obscure? Is our yes truly Yes and our no truly No? Is our purpose destruction or do we seek to build up? Are our energies aligned to the accomplishment of our own desires or open to the purposes of God?

Are we choosing, moment by moment and day by day, to allow our hearts to fall into some deep and permanent eclipse or do our hearts stand open to God, to others, to creation?

… until the day dawns and the morning star rises
in your hearts.
(2 Peter 1)

--the BB