“Soaring on Eagle’s Wings ”
“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 40:30-31, NRSV
Eagles spread their wings
Soaring, gliding way up high
Unfazed by the sun.
-Carla Romarate-Knipel
I am writing this message three hours after I watched the NFC championship game. I admit that the Philadelphia Eagles winning the National Football Conference championship game this Sunday night, January 26, 2025, has influenced my choice of the eagle haiku among the 49 haiku that I have written in September 2020! The last time the Eagles won the NFC championship was on January 29, 2023. That was the first time that I shared my eagle haiku in my February 2023 Spire Pastor’s message.
While watching the NFC championship game tonight, I realized that waiting was an essential part of the experience, both for the players and the spectators (not to mention waiting for the commercials to end so the game could continue). To wait could mean to literally stop, to pause and discern what action to take. To wait can also mean to serve. In a restaurant, the server used to be referred to as the “waiter.” The waiter paid attention to the diner’s order and preferences, so that the right dish or meal was served. To wait on the Lord, has elements of both stopping or pausing as well as serving. I understand it to be a movement in two parts. To wait on the Lord, first, one must stop, pause, and be still – in order to listen to God and God’s instructions. Then, the second movement of waiting happens: serving the Lord. Both waiting as pausing and waiting as serving, go hand in hand. When we do so, like the eagles, God empowers us to soar and rise above the obstacles that are on our way. We can even rise above something intimidating like the sun, and like the eagle, God gives us the confidence and strength to overcome what seems to be insurmountable.
This February, as we journey on to what has been a very cold, freezing winter, may we take the time to wait on the Lord. Whether we continue to have frigid temperatures and more snowfall, or the weather starts to warm up and hinting at spring, let us follow Jesus’ lead in learning, serving and resting in the Lord.
Living with hope into the future God has prepared for us is not easy. In a world that is pulled in many directions by competing voices, is not easy to be the kind of Church that Jesus has commanded to be light and salt of the earth. With a new leadership in our country that strongly champions the strong, the rich, and the powerful; we, the Body of Christ, continue to be commanded by Jesus, “to preach the good news to the poor, to proclaim liberty to the captives, to give sight to the blind, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” (Luke 4: 19-21)
There will be times that we will feel that soaring like eagles is not within our reach, that we are unable to experience the strength that God provides. When this happens, when we are feeling weak and vulnerable, may we strive to hold on to God and believe that there is hope; and even in the darkest moments, Jesus will lead us forward to the future that God has prepared for us. In following Jesus, may we be patient in waiting for the Lord to work in us and among us through times of prayer, study of God’s word, worship and compassionate service. We are never alone. We have God, and we have each other.
This patient waiting means allowing God’s Spirit to write the lines of our lives, within its creative limits, setting us free to soar above obstacles brought about by sin, evil and the “principalities and powers” that oppose God’s will; and to live as God’s beloved children bearing witness to the reign of God’s justice, mercy and peace through Jesus Christ, our Lord.
As we sing “Fly Eagles fly, all the way to the Super Bowl, let us remember that in the life of faith, we can only soar like eagles, when we put our trust in God, who lifts us up like a mother eagle on her wings. Let us wait on the Lord, and soar like eagles!
Yours In Christ’s Hope and Love,
Pastor Carla
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