Isaiah spoke to a people in exile. They
felt alone. They felt that God had abandoned
them. They
felt weary. They felt at the end of their rope. Yet
the Lord tells them – if you place your hope in me, I will renew them and they
will soar as with eagle’s wings, they will run and never feel weary, they will
walk and will not feel faint. In
their exile, they needed to feel that encouragement and hope.
Exile
can occur in different ways in our lives. It may be self-imposed. It can be due to political
and life circumstance. It can be due to
our physical or mental or spiritual health. Today
happens to be the birthday of the great American poet Emily Dickinson. She was born on this day in 1830 in Amherst,
Massachusetts. We
could say the Emily Dickinson also lived a life in exile, but it would be
difficult to say how much this was self-imposed or due to her health or the
circumstance of her life – probably a combination of all the above. She was unrecognized as a writer and poet in
her lifetime. Her family was not even aware of the poetry that she wrote. She lived a reclusive life in her family’s
homestead. She filled notebooks with
dozens of short poems and wrote hundreds of letters. She is now considered one of the great
figures of American literature. Her poetry was considered original and unique
in form and in syntax. Her poetry help
set the stage for the creative and innovative American poetry that was to come.
Although Dickinson spent a great deal of time caring for her invalid mother,
scholars speculate as to whether her exile or reclusiveness was due to
agoraphobia or anxiety or depression.
Jesus
tells those who are weary – Come to me, you who labor and are burdened, and I
will give you rest. Isaiah and Jesus both give us encouragement when we feel like we can go no
further. When we feel we are abandoned
or lonely or in exile or overwhelmed by the circumstances of our lives. We
can have some very difficult days on our journey. Yet,
our faith gives us the strength to endure.
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