One of my favorite Advent hymns was written by Alberto Taule in the early 1970’s but it was about a decade before it was translated into English by Gertrude Suppe. It is a rich and gorgeous hymn in Spanish, but the English translation is also powerful and meaningful. The hymn is based on Isaiah 40:

All earth is waiting to see the Promised One,
and the open furrows, the sowing of the Lord.
All the world, bound and struggling, seeks true liberty;
it cries out for justice and searches for the truth.
Translation copyright © 1972 by United Methodist Publishing House. Administered by The Copyright Co., Nashville, Tenn. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

We probably would not have this hymn had not there been a burst of new common language hymns following the Second Vatican Council (1962-65) that opened the doors for regional musical idioms as catholics added vernacular languages to the traditional Latin of the mass. We protestants were quick to adopt many of the new songs of faith and some of them have worked their way into our hearts.

Toda la Tierra seems to be the perfect hymn for today. All earth is waiting.

I don’t watch television much, but I have had it on from time to time throughout Advent as I did chores in our home library. South Dakota Public Broadcasting has been running a series of Christmas greetings from persons serving overseas in the U.S. military. Video clips of the deployed personnel are shown with their greetings to loved ones at home. As I was thinking of those clips, an image began to form in my mind about how the whole world is waiting.

We are waiting for the day when families are not disrupted by war.

I watched the greeting of a young airman serving in Korea. The conflict in Korea may not be the longest war in the history of the world, but it is the longest war in the history of our nation. Korea was divided into US and Soviet occupation zones in 1945. There have been US troops in the nation continuously since that time. 66 years of Christmas greetings sent from the 38th parallel. Even the M*A*S*H reruns are so old that our children cannot remember when they were not a part of the culture.

All earth is waiting.

I watched a greeting from a soldier serving in Afghanistan. It is a dangerous place to live and a dangerous place to serve. I couldn’t watch the greeting without sending my prayers for the safety of those serving in that place. That war is now a decade old with no end in sight.

All earth is waiting.

I watched a greeting from a soldier in Turkey. Officially at peace, that country sits on a tinderbox of regional conflicts. Its own internal politics are complex and rife with extremists who want to take over the modern secular state. Turkey shares a border with Syria, Iraq and Iran among other nations. War literally touches its borders on a daily basis.

All earth is waiting.

There will be no greetings from Iraq this year. US troops have officially pulled out of that country. That doesn’t mean that there are no US citizens in harms way. Private contractors remain in the country and will remain for the foreseeable future. And the country is filled with violence. A series of coordinated blasts just two days ago had devastating effects.

All earth is waiting.

There will be no greetings from Pakistan, where we have no official military presence, but where our troops and equipment are affecting the lives of local residents. At least six people died in a car bomb attack in northwest Pakistan today with dozens injured.

All earth is waiting.

By next year there could be greetings from Australia. 2,500 US marines will operate out of a de facto base in Darwin. Today Darwin is bracing for gale force winds as Cyclone Grant approaches. Landfall is expected to take place on Christmas evening.

All earth is waiting.

Christmas eve was spent cleaning up by residents of Christchurch New Zealand after yesterday’s earthquake. Reports say that many residents want out and are trying to find ways to leave the country.

All earth is waiting.

The list could go on and on. I haven’t mentioned famine and violence in Africa or the growing disparities of wealth in our native land.

At the core of our faith is that the coming of Christ is the fulfillment of the Biblical prophetic tradition. Promises of justice are not to be deferred to some future time and place - they are the way God intends us to live in the here and now. Mary, when she learns that she is to be the Godbearer does not speak in the future tense. She talks about what God has already done: scattered the proud in the conceit of their heart, put down the mighty from their seat, exalted the humble, filled the hungry with good things, sent the rich empty away . . .

All earth is waiting.

And we, who follow as disciples are called to live today in the midst of the promise that has already been fulfilled instead of pretending that peace and justice are somehow deferred to some other time and place.

May this Christmas Eve - this last day of waiting for Advent 2011 - bring deep longing and new commitments to peace and justice.

Copyright © 2011 by Ted Huffman. I wrote this. If you want to copy it, please ask for permission. If you want to share it with a friend, please direct your friend to my web site.