Episode 221: Peace on Earth
The Rev. Dr. Alix Pridgen
This week’s sermon leans into Isaiah’s breathtaking vision of a world remade in peace—a world where predator and prey live without fear, and a child can reach over a viper’s den without anyone gasping. Drawing from Howard Thurman’s unforgettable story of a baby playing with a rattlesnake, we explore the deep human ache for safety in a world where we are always scanning the shadows, tightening locks, and bracing for danger.
And yet… the sermon testifies to the shimmering moments—fragile, improbable flashes—when a different story breaks through. From a neighbor offering help on a staircase to surprising friendships between goats and old horses, lionesses and antelopes, sharks and divers, the message gathers a whole bouquet of “impossible peace.”
These moments don’t last. Not yet. But Isaiah insists that one day they will. In Advent we lean toward that promised world—toward the earth as God dreamed it—trusting that the One who shaped creation is restoring it still.