It can be quite interesting to imagine oneself into a biblical story. Choosing a role and placing ourselves into the scene can open up aspects of the story we might not have seen before. So I invite you to hear the story of the blind man and Jesus and to imagine that you are hearing it fresh, as if it just happened.
It is good for us to seek out sacred places, places where God seems quite close, since our world often seems increasingly frenetic and complex.
Life and prosperity or death and adversity? This was the question God set before the People of Israel as they prepared to enter the Promised Land. This is the question God sets before us as we prepare to enter a very uncertain future the entire planet. And it is clear what God hopes our answer will be: Choose life so that you and your descendants may live.
Like a city built on a hill that cannot be hid, I pray that this church, built on a hill, will let its light shine forth before others, so that they may see your good works, and the rightness of your relationships, and so be drawn to the brightness of your witness and the warmth of your glow.
But Isaiah shows us another way, a way that holds fast to hope. Isaiah was able to speak his word of hope to his people because he continued to have faith in God’s care for us and to look toward the best in humankind.