Read Isaiah 7:10-16.
In one moment
the breath of his words vibrates the ears of a hearer.
Ahaz takes speech and turns it to reality.
A snap of fingers.
Gratification of the most instant variety.
But his own ears tremble with
the weight of Isaiah’s vision.
A wait familiar to many women.
Hagar, seeking relief from abuse,
calling out in the desert.
Vashti, refusing to entertain powerful men.
A claim upon her own body
meaning certain exile from her own land.
Shiphrah.
Puah.
At the birthing stool.
Ruth on the threshing floor.
And Miriam.
A song of waiting.
For freedom from slavery.
For entry into the promised land.
For return to community after seven days of exile.
They have all carried the wait that trickles down through voices.
A heavy inheritance of story.
A way of being in relationship with Being.
A form in which we see ourselves
still waiting.
Pray
Infinite God who is with us in the wait, give us strength to see your story in action. Show us your work in the lives of those who have come before us. Bring us together into community so that we may create new stories of a world enacting your vision, for those who are here with us now and who are yet to come. Amen.
Kate Trigger Duffert
Program Assistant for General Assembly Business
PC(USA) Office of the General Assembly
Words for Waiting 