They will soar on wings like eagles

The title is a quote from the prophet Isaiah.

Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The LORD is the everlasting
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom.

He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.

Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;

but those who hope in the LORD
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.
(Isaiah 40:28) NIV

I think it reminds me to place my trust in God. So that even in the difficult times I will remember that he is there and present for me and the rest of humankind. My experience as a follower of Christ since my decision point to follow him 38 years ago IS that God is love and that His love manifests itself in many ways. His love is individual and he understands our unique difficulties.

The image of being borne on eagle's wings is a consoling one because it conveys an impression of majestic protection. Maybe we can't see yet that God can be like that. But I hope that my faith experience might encourage you to turn to God in prayer. When you pray times of healing will come to you. And God is the kind of God who allows himself to be found when we search for him. Speaking to us through Jeremiah (one of his prophets) he has said to us

I know the plans I have in mind for you - it is Yahweh who speaks - plans for peace, not disaster, reserving a future full of hope for you. Then when you call to me, and come to plead with me, I will listen to you. When you seek me you shall find me, when you seek me with all your heart; I will let you find me.(Jeremiah 29:11)

Some people's faith conversion is a big bang revelation that eclipses all that has gone before in their life. But for the majority it is more a trickle down effect from God to us. Convincing us slowly through grace and circumstance that His love is present to the world.

Alone with the computer?

A few years back we heard in the media about an American man who had himself legally renamed dot.com.guy and who then moved into an empty property with just his computer. He then undertook to dwell in this house for a year and survive by ordering anything that he needed over the internet. The man himself was quoted when he entered the house as saying, "I'm going to come out being a loon".

For me this story captures something about our present generation. We pride ourselves on being the connected generation. We have more ways of being in touch with each other than ever before and yet in the midst or this technology we are strangely alone. I think in the first week dot.com.guy received something like 6,000 emails. But I can almost guarantee that those emails didn't satisfy his hunger for human company. Perhaps that is part of this generations problem we can manage to churn out the quantity of communication but can we really manage quality in communication?

Certainly in terms of technology we have made huge strides and we have much to congratulate ourselves for, yet when we look at the history of the last year that has just finished we can also see that there is much that we (humankind) can be ashamed of and how technology can be used for good or evil

Yet despite this God is still interested in us! In the bible there are several love letters to us from God. They express in words that which we may one day come to experience. That God loves us with the creative love of a parent.

Knowing this helps us to guard against the isolation that finds its way into our spirit. We can do this if we quieten ourselves from the noise of the world and dwell on the generous nature of a God who freely bestows upon us the richness of creation.

Unlike dot.com.guy we don't have to "order in" creation. It is just there daily and perhaps that is why we forget about its abundance.

We need to remember that what we have is given freely by our creator and that when we embrace God's generosity we find a quality of life that is both fulfilling and powerfully loving. To be in relationship and to love in relationships is what makes us fully human.

So sorry dot.com.guy you really cannot live by the internet alone! But instead by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God! if we try to live only by technology we will come out of it incredibly isolated and alone.

We can use all these new methods of communicating but we need to do so with discernment and almost at each step weigh the value of what we do. What really counts in our lives is how successful we are at being with each other.

God's love for us manages both quantity and quality - but he is infinite and his capacity is infinite. By our nature we ourselves have limits and each of us is called to live and love.
within our very individual (and unique) God given capacities. What one person can manage
easily can be very different and difficult for another.

This year help me Lord to strive for kindness to others and a considered approach in my use of technology.