“Thus says the Lord, your redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: I, the Lord, your God, teach you what is for your good, and lead you on the way you should go” (Isaiah 48:17). The Prophet Isaiah has been playing like a pump-up mix tape throughout these first two of weeks of Advent, giving us words of assurance, peace and hope. On Wednesday, right as our students and faculty entered the real crunch of this semester’s final days, we heard Isaiah 40: 28-31:

“Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is God from of old, creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary, and his knowledge is beyond scrutiny. He gives power to the faint, abundant strength to the weak. Though young men faint and grow weary, and youths stagger and fall, they that hope in the LORD will renew their strength, they will soar on eagles’ wings; they will run and not grow weary, walk and not grow faint.”

I prayed on the Prophet’s words as I ascended the lookout at West Rock on my chilly Wednesday morning run. And as I reached the top of the ridge at about 5 miles in for the turnaround, I gazed back across the city to find the pillar at the top of East Rock, with the statue of the Angel of Peace standing as if she were a beacon of hope for the whole land.

Then a scene from Return of the King entered my mind: the lighting of the beacons of Gondor in preparation for the great and final stand between the forces of good and evil. And then I thought of the encounter between Théoden and his niece, Éowyn, just before the end of the epic film trilogy, just before the end of the war, which would lead to the return of the true King. As Théoden is preparing the warriors of Rohan to march to the aid of Gondor, he lovingly councils Éowyn, who is lamenting the impending loss of life and the pain and violence that is yet to come in battle, as he says “You shall live to see these days renewed—no more despair.”

As we enter the final days of the semester, the end of this year of longing and lament and into Gaudete, that is “rejoice,” Sunday, we are drawing closer to Christ who draws ever closer to us. We have an opportunity to gaze back over where we have been and light the beacons of peace. We shall live to see these days renewed—all as we prepare for the coming of Christ our King.