For a brief moment I abandoned you,
but with great compassion I will gather you.
In overflowing wrath for a moment
I hid my face from you,
but with everlasting love I will have
compassion on you,
says the Lord, your Redeemer.
(Isaiah 54: 7-8)

Redemption. Such a sweet word. The dictionary says it means a repurchase of something, a recovery or a rescue.

Summer is usually a time when we take a break from our routine, when we take vacations. We visit old friends and new places, and we have time to catch up on books we have meant to read. I just read Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner. During this summer of devastating floods and searing heat emergencies, of war spreading in the Middle East, I have felt a growing gloom rather than a liberating sense of being on holiday. I feel like I am waiting for the next disaster to strike. The beginning of The Kite Runner echoed those morose feelings. The narrator of the story is increasingly repulsive. I found myself thinking, "I may be bad, but I'm not that bad." Then, finally, begins the character's redemption.

I will not summarize the novel, but it hit home because it is set in Afghanistan and America. Much evil is done in the name of religion. It is hard to be a true follower of a faith. But, when a character begins to try to do what is right, the impact of individual deeds is amazing.

The promise of attainable redemption makes the suffering around us bearable. Isaiah reminds us that we may feel that God has turned from us but we must remember his promise of everlasting love.

Dear God, Do not turn away from us for long. Help us to see in the small acts of kindness we experience and do in our daily lives, your all-embracing love. Amen

Contributed by Susan L.
Sunday August 6, 2006
Liturgical Year B Week 37