No shout in Scripture is more familiar than the shout of the prophet Isaiah. "Get ready!", he is saying, "The Messiah is coming. Prepare the Way of the Lord."

Isaiah 40 is one of the most familiar passages in the Old Testament, made so in large part by Handel's MESSIAH. It's the call of Advent: "Prepare the way of the Lord."

Now I know that the coming of Christ is always gift, always grace. So we need to think a little about how the spontaneous working of God's grace, unearned, unexpected, undeserved how that can harmonize with our work our preparation.

Some of you may know the name Simone Weil. She has written some marvelous spiritual books books on prayer, meditation, and spiritual formation. Though she is a great champion of the inner life, and the development of our spirituality, sh…