This week we hear that John the Baptist is out in the wilderness eating “locusts and wild honey” (Mark 1:6). It’s not just a strange historical detail. It’s a symbolic expression of a healthy spiritual diet. The path to Christ includes both the hard and the beautiful, the gritty and the sweet. We have to learn to gulp the locusts and savor the honey.
I remember working with a young couple preparing for marriage. They were sincere, but raw — barely beginning to discover faith. Part of me wanted to rush them ahead, to fill in all the gaps, to bombard them with scripture and church documents. I swallowed that instinct. It was like eating locusts.
But I also recall them light up as they spoke about each other, about their first child, then their second. And they wanted to be close to God. Something innocent and beautiful was unfolding. That was the honey. I knew God was asking me to savor it.
This Advent, maybe we’re each being invited to accept both locusts and honey. Maybe it’s time to stop avoiding the difficult parts of faith — prayer that feels dry, the call to repentance, the patience with the troublesome. It’s time to eat some locusts.
But we also need to notice the small gifts God gives us: a peaceful moment, a good conversation, the joy of serving someone else, new life, good intentions of our friends. That’s the honey. Savor it!
John didn’t avoid either. He took it all in. And so can we. What are your locusts? Your honey? If we let God feed us with both, we’ll be ready — really ready — for the coming of Christ. — Father John Muir ©LPi
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