Ordinary Time
January 30, 2018
Scripture Reading: Isaiah 40:21-31
Why do you say, O Jacob,
and speak, O Israel,
‘My way is hidden from the Lord,
and my right is disregarded by my God’?
Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary;
his understanding is unsearchable.
He gives power to the faint,
and strengthens the powerless.
Even youths will faint and be weary,
and the young will fall exhausted;
but those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength,
they shall mount up with wings like eagles,
they shall run and not be weary,
they shall walk and not faint. –Isaiah 40:27-31
A bald eagle was found shot in a field recently in Oklahoma; a crime as bald eagles are an endangered species. I think killing any animal just for the sport is wrong, which seems to be what happened here. I do not think I have ever heard of anyone eating eagle, but this dead one was left to rot in a field. Eagles are hunters themselves. They know well the life of soaring above the earth searching for food to nourish their bodies.
Isaiah in our scripture today uses the eagle as an example for us to follow as one who needs nourishment to continue our life journeys. While we too require sustenance for our bodies, we also require nourishment for our souls, and that comes in our relationship with God.
What does it mean to wait on the Lord? Certainly, when we take something to the Lord in prayer, we need to be heedful for a response. I, however, believe that God is ahead of us all the time waiting for us to catch on and catch up to what we need to do. Our waiting involves being still and attentive enough to see the paths that God has set forth for us. God runs with us every step all the time.
Prayer: Lord, open my heart and my mind to your guidance so that I can run and not be weary. Amen.