I’ve been accused of many things. I accuse myself of many things. I am a lost and uncontrollable creature that has missed the mark, missed the point, missed my opportunity, missed out on too much. But I am maybe a little too confident for such an admittedly lacking being. When I feel scratched by sackcloth and burned by the ashes. When it stings and smothers inside. When I fear I might be slipping into insanity. But yet emboldened to walk on. Even in confusion.

By Paul Koch

“Truly, you are a God who hides himself, O God of Israel, the Savior.” (Isaiah 45:15)

Commenting on this verse, Luther wrote, “These are the words of the prophet, who had already predicted these words of consolation. Now he is snatched into a trance of the Word of God, as if to say, ‘Dear God, how strangely you deal with us!’ It is a matter beyond comprehension to which reason cannot attain.” In one breath, the prophet praises God as a God who hides and then proclaims him as the one revealed to be the God of Israel and our Savior.

By Cindy Koch

The air was fresh and calm. A young sun wrapped the new earth in a blanket of perfect warmth. The whole creation seemed to take a tranquil sigh. It was a glorious day of naming beasts and birds for Adam. The Lord had brought every animal to the man: furry, feathery, scaly, large and small, brave and meek. They poured out from every corner of the green field, but now each receded into the background as the earth fell quiet, again.