Do Not Fear, I Have Redeemed You

Last year, I had a pretty significant back injury. In the weeks that follow the injury, when I couldn’t run, couldn’t surf, couldn’t help around the house, so much of my life was called in question. All these things I love suddenly gone. I remember my daughter saying, “Dad, this is gonna be your biggest spiritual challenge yet.”

She was exactly right.

When she said this, she was getting at the fact that there can be growth in crisis. Not that there are any guarantees, but there can be a deepening that is forged in the fires of suffering. Though it’s hard to even imagine when we are in the midst of it. I think my daughter also recognized that that there are moments in life that not only raise fear in us, fear of loss, fear of what’s next, but in fact call into question our very identity.

Without the temple, without our homeland, who are we? Who are we living in this foreign land?

Without surfing, without running who am I? I’m not a surfer… I’m not a runner.

You might ask: Without this job… without this marriage…. without my son, my daughter… without my ability to drive or travel any longer, or walk… what is there?

In Isaiah chapter 43, God says:

But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob,
he who formed you, O Israel:
Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you…

Biblical scholar Kathleen O’Connor claims that even though this beautiful text was written for exiles in Babylon, it also carries quintessential claims that Christian baptism makes on believers.

Though sometimes it is hard to see it, at our core, deep within, there is a belonging, a worthiness, a dignity, a strength that comes from God.

I heard John O’Donohue talking about the 14th-century Christian mystic, Meister Eckhart. He said Eckart claimed that there is a place in the soul that neither time nor space nor no created thing can touch. There is a place within you where there is still a sureness in you, where there’s a seamlessness in you, where there is a confidence and tranquility in you. And… the intention of prayer… is now and again to visit that inner sanctuary.

Let us pray: We thank you, O God, for walking with us, for loving us, forgiving us. Meet us today at the deepest point of our need, and grant us your strength and peace. Amen.