Foretelling

Voices...

A clamour of voices, echoing down through the centuries.
I hear them -
some gentle as the call of a dove, some resounding like the blast of a trumpet -
all as familiar to me as my own.

What do they say?
They speak of peace, of hope, of reconciliation...
of violence and suffering...
of power and mercy.

"A man of sorrows" says one
and "my beloved son" says another.
"A day of judgement" yet "the comfort of Israel".
One cries, "Behold your King!"
another whispers, "the servant of all".

They will not let me go, these voices.
The one of whom they speak is coming soon - I know it, I feel it.
His footsteps are on the way, his time is near at hand.

And I?  They speak of me too.  I am to be the last.
"A voice crying in the wilderness" - that is my task.
As I am foretold, so I foretell.  I gather all these voices into one:

"Prepare ye the way of the Lord!"

In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”  For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said,

“The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the Lord;
    make his paths straight.’”

Matthew 3:1-3