renew: old things, new things

“Remember not the former things,
   nor consider the things of old.
Behold, I am doing a new thing;
   now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
I will make a way in the wilderness
    and rivers in the desert.

I love how Isaiah contrasts the past and the future — one example is here in Isaiah 43.18-19, but they are all over the place. In this case, the former things refer to something good: God’s deliverance of his people from Egypt. On other words, they are called to live in hope for the future and in the present reality of who God is and not what he once did. In other passages, the “former things” recall a more negative memory: failures, sins, judgements. I like that God asks us to live in the present and hope for the future and anticipate newness, wherever we are at.

Being a plant geek, I was happy to learn that “it springs forth” is literally, “it sprouts” or “it germinates”. Seeds are such a rich picture, and having gotten to grow plants from seed last spring, I can say it is nearly magical (yes, even more so than bacon soap). The way that those seeds just — sproing! — into being…and how something so fragile and small can become a thick, fruitful tomato vine that nearly takes over my garden…a beautiful thing, indeed.

Renew: the redemption of bacon

So here was my “renew” themed activity today: I turned bacon into soap.

See, I was introduced into the world of soapmaking about a year ago thanks to my friend Michal. See, we share the same skepticism of all things “unnatural”, synthetic things made in factories that could be made more “purely” at home. She is a wealth of information in that regard so often our conversation topics are those everyone else finds…well, weird. I thank God for her.

Making soap makes no sense. You start with fat. Greasy, sticky fat. And then you grab some lye. Which is seriously caustic, bad, bad stuff. And you mix the lye into the water and dump that into the fat and stir it around and….SOAP! You want a magic show, grab a bar of soap and look at it.

And it occurred to me, if you can make soap out of coconut oil…can you make soap out of leftover bacon fat? The answer: why, yes! And I thought, what idiots those soap marketing people must be because I know a lot of men who really like bacon. And bacon soap? I mean, what scent is more appealing to a man than bacon?

So today I turned the bacon fat I’ve been saving for the past year (so, we don’t go through that much bacon) and now I have bacon soap. Which, since I had to purify the fat, pretty much just smells like Ivory. The recipe I was using called for the addition of Bacon Bits to serve as an exfoliant, but uh, that seemed a little much.

And I’m telling you, what is a better picture of redemption than turning bacon fat into soap?! Here we’ve got this seemingly good-for-nothin’, gross, stinky leftover stuff — unKOSHER, nonetheless — that the normal, sensible people throw away. But through this magical process, it can be turned into something that cleans things. It’s not just been rendered “neutral”, it hasn’t just gone from “bad” to “not bad”…it’s gone from “the yucky thing” to “the thing that makes the yucky things go away”. Cah-razy.

Yeah, so making bacon soap was really more about making me laugh than it was about using my leftovers or having high quality soap or even wanting to experience the spiritual beauty of redeeming bacon. But it was a fun picture.

I wonder why Isaiah never thought to use that one…oh, wait…nevermind…

Renew: a bloomin’ desert

One of Isaiah’s favorite poetic images is that of streams in a desert, vibrant vegetation growing where previously nothing could be sustained.

Maybe I love the image all the more because I live in a desert. We get a few inches of rain in the spring and the brown hills get a greenish tint to them. One such spring, Brian was admiring them, comparing the hills to those of Ireland. To which I replied, “Honey, you need to get out more.” Our spring hills look as similar to Ireland as my house does to the Queen of England’s castle. But then he’s a little color blind, so maybe to him our hills and Ireland’s are one and the same.

So today I’m posting one of my favorite “bloomin’ desert” passages, a whole chapter, in fact. I know. A whole chapter. Of poetry. On a blog. How boring.

But just try it. It’s beautiful; a perfect picture of the renewal our Rescuer brings. I’m telling you, I just can hardly wait for this day. There is so much more that could be said of this chapter, but tonight I’ll let God’s words speak for themselves:

Isaiah 35

The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad;
    the desert shall rejoice and blossom like the crocus;
it shall blossom abundantly
   and rejoice with joy and singing.
The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it,
   the majesty of Carmel and Sharon.
They shall see the glory of the LORD,
   the majesty of our God.

 Strengthen the weak hands,
   and make firm the feeble knees.
Say to those who have an anxious heart,
   ”Be strong; fear not!
Behold, your God
   will come with vengeance,
with the recompense of God.
   He will come and save you.”

 Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,
   and the ears of the deaf unstopped;
then shall the lame man leap like a deer,
   and the tongue of the mute sing for joy.
For waters break forth in the wilderness,
   and streams in the desert;
the burning sand shall become a pool,
   and the thirsty ground springs of water;
in the haunt of jackals, where they lie down,
   the grass shall become reeds and rushes.

 And a highway shall be there,
   and it shall be called the Way of Holiness;
the unclean shall not pass over it.
   It shall belong to those who walk on the way;
   even if they are fools, they shall not go astray.
No lion shall be there,
   nor shall any ravenous beast come up on it;
they shall not be found there,
   but the redeemed shall walk there.
And the ransomed of the LORD shall return
   and come to Zion with singing;
everlasting joy shall be upon their heads;
   they shall obtain gladness and joy,
   and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

Renew

Renew: To make new or as if new again; restore, to bring into being again; reestablish. Synonyms include: restore, return, repent, bring back to original condition, reinstate, refresh, new life, regenerate, reconcile, make the unusable usable

Isaiah 61:1

The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me,
   because the LORD has anointed me
…
to proclaim liberty to the captives,
   and the opening of the prison to those who are bound

I realize this is the same verse from last week’s “Rescue” — the two ideas are so closely related. There is not only a rescue that has taken place, but as is especially seen in the later part of the passage, a new status implied: there are people who no longer are who they once were.