{"id":1120,"date":"2022-03-31T14:35:59","date_gmt":"2022-03-31T13:35:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uniofglos.blog\/chaplaincy\/?p=1120"},"modified":"2022-03-31T14:35:59","modified_gmt":"2022-03-31T13:35:59","slug":"longing-for-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.glos.ac.uk\/chaplaincy\/2022\/03\/31\/longing-for-home\/","title":{"rendered":"Longing for home"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The\u00a0Lord\u00a0says to his people,<\/p>

\u201cWhen the time comes to save you, I will show you favour
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0and answer your cries for help.
I will guard and protect you
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0and through you make a covenant with all peoples.
I will let you settle once again
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0in your land that is now laid waste.
I will say to the prisoners, \u2018Go free!\u2019
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0and to those who are in darkness,
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u2018Come out to the light!\u2019
They will be like sheep that graze on the hills;
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0they will never be hungry or thirsty.
Sun and desert heat will not hurt them,
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0for they will be led by one who loves them.
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0He will lead them to springs of water.<\/p>

\u201cI will make a highway across the mountains
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0and prepare a road for my people to travel.
My people will come from far away,
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0from the north and the west,\u00a0and from Aswan\u00a0in the south.\u201d<\/p>

Sing, heavens! Shout for joy, earth!
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Let the mountains burst into song!
The\u00a0Lord\u00a0will comfort his people;
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0he will have pity on his suffering people.<\/p>

But the people of Jerusalem said,<\/p>

\u201cThe\u00a0Lord\u00a0has abandoned us! He has forgotten us.\u201d<\/p>

So the\u00a0Lord\u00a0answers,<\/p>

\u201cCan a woman forget her own baby
<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0and not love the child she bore?
Even if a mother should forget her child,
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0I will never forget you.
Jerusalem, I can never forget you!
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0I have written your name on the palms of my hands.<\/p>Isaiah 49.8-16<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

That reading reminds me of those in some parts of Ukraine at the moment – those hiding in cellars, those who don\u2019t have power or easy access to food and water, and how they must long to be set free.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And it also makes me think about those who are now refugees – in exile, like Isaiah\u2019s Jewish readers. I was talking with a group of students on Monday about what it would be like to be a refugee. We were trying to imagine how that might feel. We asked, what one thing would we want to rescue from our house and take with us? We had some interesting suggestions – a hard drive with photos, a journal, a dog, some vital medicine. I settled on my guitar – which might be good for me – possibly not for everyone else\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then we asked what one thing would we miss about living in this country if we had to leave and live somewhere else? People said, the landscape\u2026 The NHS. The safe roads. The seasons. I wonder what it would be for you?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And we thought about one thing we might do for a refugee family if we were welcoming one here. Give them their own private space to escape to. Treat them as individuals. Offer them a routine: a chance to cook with us, or go for a walk with us each day. Give them opportunities to give back. Take them to the pub\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Isaiah offers the Jewish exiles the one thing that is more important than any of those – he gives them the promise that they will be able one day to go home – to return to their own country and live there in peace. We can imagine how that might feel for the millions who have had to flee from Ukraine and live in unfamiliar places, trying to make a life for themselves and their families – separated from their loved ones and their community and all the security and comfort of home. We can imagine how it might feel for the people of Mariupol to be told that one day they would be able to come out from the places where they are hiding and live in freedom, and that their city would be rebuilt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first response of Isaiah\u2019s hearers is understandably disbelief. How can we trust God\u2019s promise? It feels like he has abandoned us and forgotten us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Isaiah then passes on the strongest image of God\u2019s faithful love that he can offer. God could no more abandon his people than a mother could abandon her child. We might think of the Ukrainian mothers holding on tight to their children as they make difficult journeys. And even if the love of human mothers is not always perfect – God\u2019s love is stronger. He has our names written, as it were, on very the palms of his hands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We are not physically in exile, like the people of Israel, or Ukraine – or shut away in cellars in a war torn country. But there will be times when we feel that we are in exile in other ways. When we feel that in some way we are far from anywhere that feels like home. When we long to be in a safe and peaceful place where we can be fully ourselves. When we feel imprisoned in some way, internally or externally, and we need to be set free, and to hear those words \u2018Come out into the light\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When we are in those places, which can seem very dark and very hopeless, we may well say to ourselves \u2018The Lord has abandoned us. He has forgotten us.\u2019 In those times, Isaiah\u2019s words are for us too:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCan a woman forget her own baby and not love the child she bore?
Even if a mother should forget her child, I will never forget you.
I can never forget you! I have written your name on the palms of my hands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n