Living in the Spirit

October 6, 2020

Scripture Reading: Isaiah 25:1-9
On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples
   a feast of rich food, a feast of well-matured wines,
   of rich food filled with marrow, of well-matured wines strained clear.
And he will destroy on this mountain
   the shroud that is cast over all peoples,
   the sheet that is spread over all nations;
he will swallow up death forever.
Then the Lord God will wipe away the tears from all faces,
   and the disgrace of his people he will take away from all the earth,
   for the Lord has spoken.
It will be said on that day,
   Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, so that he might save us.
   This is the Lord for whom we have waited;
   let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.

Our world is indeed covered by a shroud, a pandemic of death with no favorites by any standards. The people of the USA are an impatient lot and acquainted with getting what we want. Some call it privileged.  

A strong straight wind blew through my neighborhood, recently knocking out my electricity and the streetlights nearby. I sat for a few moments thinking it would quickly return. We do not realize how addicted to instant information we are until something like this happened. My phone was three-quarters charged. My iPad and laptop were fully charged, but otherwise, I was sitting in total darkness. I checked via my iPad and learned a major outage had occurred, and my electricity would be out for several hours as repairs were in process. After stewing around for a short time, I gave in to having no control over my situation, laid back in my recliner, and listened to the book I was reading via Audible on my iPad. My busy life rarely allows me four hours of reading time. I totally enjoyed the experience. Using a battery-operated lantern, I then found my way to my bed and fell asleep content. There are two lessons I learned from this experience. I, in many ways, am one of the privileged, and waiting is not wasting time.

On a much broader scale, our waiting for the time when we do not need to wear a mask or distance ourselves from others, when we can shop and eat where and when we want is not wasted time. It allows us to practice, by obeying the simplest of rules, loving our neighbors as we love ourselves.

Prayer:God of Mercy, support us as we learn to be patient with our lives as we strive to love you more nearly in frightening times. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.