Groundhog Day

For the mountains may depart and the hills be removed, but my steadfast love shall not depart from you...Isaiah 54.1 - 10

Somehow, despite a tremendous winter storm barreling through the Northeast, Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow yesterday, and so the word on the street is there will be six more weeks of winter. Living in the middle of that storm, I can't imagine how he saw his shadow, but perhaps there was a little light from heaven to remind us all that God's steadfast love "shall not depart from you."

2020 was a "Groundhog Day" kind of a year; like the weatherman in the movie, every day seemed to be the same. I don't know about you, but March 2020 seems like it was just yesterday, and everyday since we all went into pandemic exile seems to have been filled with the same thoughts...when will this be over, how do I stay well, why is this happening?

The portion of Isaiah appointed for today comes from the Israelites' time of exile in Babylon in the 7th century BCE. I can only imagine how mundane and repetitive the days were for them, very "groundhog dayish" I am sure. And yet from the prophet Isaiah comes that beautiful promise that NO MATTER what, even if the mountains and the hills go away, God's steadfast love, chesed: grace, benevolence, compassion, will never depart from us.

NEVER, no way, no how, as children sometimes say. Watch for the Light, my friends. It is always there, just like the weather.