Repairers of the Breach | Plan for Labor Day

After a wonderful start to my new job I am down with Covid! It has not been too bad - 48 hours of a bad cold, and a serious headache, followed by quick and steady recovery. Thank you Paxlovid. Thank you science.

Despite our serious attempts to keep Ken safe, he has tested positive now too. No symptoms; we can hope that stays true.

Stay healthy!

-Liz

Resisting Despair

I said just two weeks ago that this is not the worst time ever, and I stand by that. But the arrival of troops in DC makes it significantly worse than it was.

On top of that, it is hard to even know what is happening. The chaos of new things going wrong, some are stopped by the courts, some turn out to be something different, some are retracted; these intentionally create confusion. The difficulty it takes to understand the edicts, the votes, the decisions; we have little clarity about goals, strategies, outcomes. News that covers some things as if they are normal actions, and others as if they are non-existent makes me doubt that I know what is going on. The masked kidnappers and threats use of the national guard and the military in our cities successfully creates an environment of fear.

I feel despair.

I am shocked by the museums, colleges, universities, law firms, businesses that have refused to stand up to our administration. I am amazed that there are not 10 or 8 or 3 republican lawmakers that will stand up for their right to do their job. It makes me wonder if I'd really be as strong as I think I'd be if faced with direct attacks.

I feel despair.

Next Sunday we read Isaiah 58:9b-14, which at first glance feels like a laughable promise -- that God will save us.

It is obvious that God has not, and is not, going to fix this. We know many awful things have happened to God's faithful. I do not believe that it is bad now because God is missing; I do not believe God will swoop in to make it better.

In despair (or is it anger?) I stomp my feet.

Yet, when I get over being mad at our scripture (I waste so much time angry at scripture), I can look at what it really says.

It says that if I call on God, God will say "here I am."

God doesn't promise that everything will be alright, the world will be fixed, that I will get everything I ask for. Isaiah is not promising a fixit. Even in the original context the promise is not that the people will go home from exile (there is a promise of that in the distant future. And I believe it will get better again in our distant future.)

In this text, right now, the promise is that God will be with us in the suffering. It is a constant promise, it has always been true, the prophet is offering a reminder of an eternal reality. God is with us.

Today I want to think about how we can access that feeling that God is with us. What can we do when we feel despair?

This answer, too, is in this text. Do what God asks of us, and we will feel God amongst us.

Isaiah reminds us to follow God by removing yokes, stop pointing our finger and speaking evil of others, feeding the hungry.

Taking these actions are what make us feel like a light, like a watered garden, refreshed and ready to do more. It is what we do for others (stranger, neighbor, and enemy alike) that help us to recognize God is with us. This has always been true but feels so much more true in this hard time.

Moreover, we must attend to Sabbath-time, the day, the hour, the minute or rest that we need to keep going. Take time for God, focusing not on this need or that, not our fear, or anxiety, or our despair, turning our hearts fully to God and God's dream for us.

Turning away from our inner angst paradoxically provides care for ourselves. It helps us to feel God's presence.

If we can do these two things: care for others and honor Sabbath, Isaiah imagines that we will become "repairer of the breach, restorer of the streets we live on". The ruin of our society will be repaired, maybe not soon, but we, with God, will have been part of that repair and restoration.

This is how we find our way out of despair.

What are you feeling? What are you doing? How is your weekly worship contributing to your ability to care for others? Reply to this email to let me know what's happening. ​
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Repairers of the Breach is engaged in Moral Mondays, prayer at statehouses for just laws.

Repairers of the Breach

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Plan now to find Labor Day protests in your area, or to have a Labor Day event in your community.

Common Dreams

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