God does not faint or grow weary. This is very good news! The greater good news in this passage is that God will give strength to those of us who do grow weary. Growing weary seems to be endemic these days. I grow weary as I hear about the growing unemployment rates. Each interview with a recently laid off person, and every news story about greed at the corporate level saddens our heart and saps our strength. It is hard to believe that we who wait upon the Lords will be renewed. We would have very little to hope except that history gives us reason to trust Isaiah's words. The people of Israel were at the bottom physically, economically and spiritually. The people of Israel were in exile in a foreign country. They were in trouble, they were down with little hope of being raised up. But God did raise them up and they were brought home. This is the pattern for God's people throughout history. God is always and forever reaching out to us.
St. Stephen's in the Snow
This is the snow and ice which came last Tuesday. Beautiful but lots of trouble! There are thousands of people still without power. New Harmony residents were not as affected by the power outages as much as the people in Evansville and surrounding places. The main roads are clear but the side roads are icy. Snowfall has a way of making everything look clean and new. It would be nice if all of the messiness of life could be cleaned up so easily and quickly.
This is the cake from yesterday's welcome home party at the Barn Abbey. It was a wonderful celebration of the sabbatical time. The food was great (as it always is at St. Stephen's) and we spent time catching up on the things that have happened in the 3 months of the sabbatical. I am so grateful to the parish for enabling this time of rest and renewal. They are a gifted parish whose abilities for ministry are outstanding.
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