On June 27, 1880 a baby girl was born in rural Alabama. At first blush, there was nothing particularly special about this baby. As one of five children, she was raised alongside her siblings in the usual ways. I imagine her parents doted on their baby girl as most parents do; celebrating first smiles, first solid foods, first teeth, first steps, first birthday.

Then, at 19 months old, tragedy struck. The girl contracted an unknown illness. Perhaps it was scarlet fever, perhaps it was meningitis. Whatever it was the illness took a toll, leaving her both deaf and blind. This news, to her parents, must have been nothing less than devastating.

Without the use of two of her five senses, senses most of us take for granted, what kind of life would be left for this little girl? What firsts were even possible for a deaf and blind child, still under the age of two?

Would there be a first day of school, first graduation, first job?

Would her parents be able to celebrate her first drawing?

Or the time she first spelled her name?

The girl was now trapped in silence, trapped in darkness. Unable to communicate with the outside world. She was, in effect, a prisoner in her own body.

Prophet
Today we walk a bit farther down the Advent road, eagerly anticipating the birth of the Christ child in ten short days. In last week’s Matthew 3 text we heard John the Baptist being prophetic –
Crying out in the wilderness,
Preparing the way of the Lord,
Making Christ’s path straight.

John baptized, promising one would come, more powerful than he.
One who would baptize not just with water, but with the Holy Spirit, and fire.

The more powerful one showed up. John then baptized Jesus. If ever there was a mountaintop moment for a prophet, baptizing the Son of God must have been it.

Christ’s ministry then began.

Disciples were called, travel plans made.
Sermons were delivered, miracles performed.

So many sermons, so many miracles, Jesus had quite the career. Christ’s message was getting out to the people. Hearts and minds and families and towns and regions and countries were being transformed.

And in the midst of all this goodness John the Baptist, once again, shows up in the story.

But John had changed.

Prisoner
Gone was the self-assured prophet, confidently proclaiming the coming new kingdom. Gone was the Spirit of God, descending from the heavens, in the form of a dove. Gone was the voice from heaven, saying this is my Son, the beloved, with whom I am well pleased.

Those events were now in the rear-view mirror. Distant moments in the past that kept getting farther and farther away.

Instead, John now found himself trapped, in prison. John was now blind to the world outside. Unable to hear what Christ had been up to, except through messengers.

In that moment, of imprisoned isolation, prophet John sent those messengers to ask Jesus two questions.

Are you the one who is to come?
Or should we wait for another?

Earlier, John knew those answers.
But now he had begun to wonder.
Doubt had begun to set in.

Prisons, whether literal or figurative, real or imagined, can put doubt into anyone’s heart. It’s easy to believe in God in the bright sunlight when all is joyful and free. But let the iron doors of difficulty slam shut, and doubt dwells dauntingly, in the darkness.

Light
Christ then answered the messengers, referencing his resume.

Tell John what you hear and see, he told the messengers. That –
the blind receive sight,
the lame now walk,
the sick are healed,
The dead are raised,
The poor given good news.

In short, yes, he confirmed.
I am the One.

The messengers then went, going to share this good news with the prophet.

Tell John all that you hear and see, Christ proclaimed.
Because John, at present, can’t hear or see it for himself.

Anne
The rest of the story, about the 19-month-old baby who could also no longer hear or see, is anything but sad. By the time the baby turned seven her parents knew they needed help, to truly connect with the daughter they so loved, but were so separated from. So they contacted a renowned school for the blind, who pointed them to a recent graduate, 20-year-old Anne Sullivan.

Anne began to work with the young girl for multiple hours per day, one on one, customizing a curriculum designed to match the girl’s interests. Anne taught the girl by spelling words into her hand, pairing the word with the object.

D-O-L-L, Anne would spell in the girl’s palm, then handing her a doll. Anne repeated this approach dozens of times, with dozens of words.

At first, it seemed no progress was being made.

Then one day the girl began to imitate the gestures, without understanding the meaning behind them. This helped Anne realize more might be possible with her student, still locked up from within.

The teacher kept trying, never giving up.

The big breakthrough came a month into their efforts. Teacher Anne spelled W-A-T-E-R in one hand, while pouring water on the other, when suddenly the student excitedly understood. The girl then grabbed any object she could find and asked teacher Anne to spell out, in her hand, what that object was.

Within six months of this intense, spirited education the girl’s written vocabulary had exploded from one word to 575.

Helen
Many of you likely know exactly who this girl is; we’re talking about the famed Helen Keller.

So, to make this article simple canadian generic cialis and understandable to regular guys, we’ll cover the common medications only. One of the most popular drugs is the online cialis pdxcommercial.com. Because of these properties it normalizes sildenafil 100mg price vata and pitta. free viagra for women The blood has to be flown towards the penile organ of the man. Helen, writing in her autobiography, The Story of My Life, recalled the moment she understood the meaning of that first word.

“I stood still,” Helen said, “my whole attention fixed upon the motions of her fingers. Suddenly I felt a misty consciousness as of something forgotten – a thrill of returning thought; and somehow the mystery of language was revealed to me. I knew then that W-A-T-E-R meant the wonderful cool something that was flowing over my hand. The living word awakened my soul, gave it light, hope, set it free!”

Helen described the day she first met her teacher, Anne Sullivan, March 5, 1887, as my soul’s birthday.

And what a birthday for her soul it was, for the day she met Helen everything changed. Because of Anne’s teachings Helen went on to accomplish much in her long and storied life. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree from Harvard, a first for a deaf and blind person. She wrote a dozen books, was a prized lecturer, helped found the ACLU, and was later inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame.

Helen lived out her call in this world brilliantly. It all began the day she met Anne.

Turn
The theme for Advent this week is Joy. Yet today’s text, of John the Baptist, is a story of doubt, and distance from Jesus. The text suggests we’re not quite there yet in the joy department.

Perhaps we’re like John, far removed from the mountaintop moments of our faith. Far removed from when our role, in God’s creation, seemed clear.

Perhaps we’re like Helen, feeling completely disconnected from our surroundings. Unable to relate with others, in even the most basic of ways.

Perhaps we’ve lost the ability to hear, or see, what the Holy Spirit is up to.

In these moments let us look forward, to the inbreaking of Christ, in our world.

Presence
For it is then when Christ takes our hand. Blind and deaf to his presence as we sometimes may be.

Christ then writes L-O-V-E in our palm.

Again, again, and again.

Teaching us, patiently.
Never giving up.
Even when it seems no progress has been made.

And when we’re open,
to Christ’s teaching,
one day we’ll begin to imitate those same gestures –

First writing L-O-V-E on our own palm.
Later writing L-O-V-E on the hands, and hearts, of others.

Initially we’ll just imitate Christ’s L-O-V-E.
Without grasping the full meaning behind it.

But eventually a big breakthrough will come.

Christ will write those four letters, L-O-V-E, on one hand, while pairing it with symbols of our faith in the other.

First an angel, a trumpet, a manger.
Then water, a dove, and a flame.
Later wine, bread, a cross.

Excitedly we’ll begin to understand.
Excitedly we’ll ask Christ to share what else, in this world, his love is paired with.

And we’ll realize that list, of what Christ’s love is paired with, of creation, and people, is infinite.

For Christ’s love knows no bounds.

Close
As people of faith our soul’s birthday is celebrated in the waters of our baptism.

But our soul’s source stems from another birth. A birth celebrated each year on December 25.

Come soon, Jesus.
Bring us your joy.

Open our eyes to see.
Open our ears to hear.

Release us from the prisons,
That keep us from you.

Take our hand.
Teach us your love.

Give us your words,
When we have none.

Teach us to love ourselves.
Teach us to love others.

Sometimes we doubt as we wait.
But we know this world needs your love.

Desperately.

Right here.
Right now.

Amen.