Never Forgotten

One of the things most precious to us is that we be remembered with love, especially by those we love and esteem.

Another is that we have reason to hope, when times are tough for us, that something better awaits us.

Both of these needs of the human heart are met by the beautiful words of comfort and promise from the Jewish Garden of Faith that are our reading for today. They are found in the book of the great prophet Isaiah.

If you and I take them to heart, we will experience a real sense of the loving care and presence of our Creator, whose plans for us all, and for the earth, are for the greatest good we can imagine, and more. These prophetic words give us rich promises to feed our imaginations and our hopes.

This is what God says:

In due time I shall come to save you.

I shall hear your cries for help, and rescue you.

I shall guard and protect you.

I shall make a covenant through you with all nations and peoples.

I shall say to prisoners: "Go free!"

I shall say to those in darkness: "Come into the Light!"

You will be led by One who loves you, and I will lead you to springs of living water.

I shall make highways across the mountains, and prepare roads on which you can travel.

It is not true that I have forgotten or abandoned you.

Can a mother forget the baby at her breast?

Can she ignore the child she has borne?

Even if a mother can forget her offspring, I shall never forget you.

I have engraved your name on the palm of My hands.

I never cease to watch over you.

Peace will be your governor, and justice your ruler.

The sounds of violence will never again be heard in your land.

Your country will never again be destroyed by warfare.

Salvation will be the wall that defends you.

Praise will be the gates that protect you.

The sun will no longer be your light by day,

and the moon will no longer be your light at night.

I, your God, will be your eternal light.

The light of My glory will shine upon you--

a light that will continue to shine even when the sun and the moon are burnt out.

Cries of grief will never again be heard in your land.

My reflection:

People sometimes ask me how to know what God's will for us humans is.

Passages like this, which contain Divine promises, to me clearly describe the Divine will.

In the above words, it is clear that God desires the end of warfare and all violence

and the reign of peace and justice.

God wishes us to live in the Light of God, and to receive God's comfort and freedom.

My prayer:

Loving God, there are dark times when what You promise

in these prophetic words

seems like an impossible dream.

Yet, if I give up hope, and pay attention to the violence, the warfare,

the lack of peace even among people I know,

and the ignorance and greed of leaders and their followers,

I have little reason to look forward to the future.

May Your loving presence and promises be the Light in my darkness,

and the hope of my heart when it is broken.

And may I lend my self and my resources as instruments of Your Power

to create peace and justice where there is none now.

amen