Thoughts.com Blogs - with wings like eagles

they that wait upon the Lord
will renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings like eagles

i remember vividly the day we studied this passage in Theological school.
like most translations into English, passion and life are missing from this set of words.
the picture behind this is a specific kind of eagle.
they don't "flap" into flight.
more about that in a moment.
let me show you the picture of the "waiting" part first.
these eagles find a mountaintop.
they pluck out all their feathers.
after completely plucking themselves nude,
they break off their beaks on a stone.
then they sit.

i met the Lord at fifteen.
well, that's when it was official.
this verse made as much sense to me as Chinese.
even after i had studied this and graduated,
waiting wasn't my game.
waiting five minutes while i "did devotions"
almost was too much.
(why is it 'doing devotions' to read Scripture
when i just read love letters from people?
Scripture IS love letters.)
anyway, breaking my back was the plucking of the feathers.
four years later, heart failure was the breaking off of the beak.

of course, during this time
the eagle is getting no food.
the feathers and beak grow back just before starvation hits,
almost as if it had been planned that way
now is the part that even with all my inactivity makes me nuts.
the eagle goes to the edge of the cliff
and stands there.
as i mentioned, these are the greater eagles.
they don't flap.
they wait for the wind to come to them,
open their wings,
and are lifted into the air.

those close to me probably go crazy because i can't wait for the wind.
i'm hungry, dang it.
my stomach is a work of art that must be maintained.
i've got it all.
i can see mice at a mile away.
i have talons that will take down a bear.
i have feathers.
i say a quick prayer
( ... a VERY quick prayer ... )
and dive off the mountain.
did i mention i was hungry?

the next part of this passage says,
they shall run and not be weary,
they shall walk and not faint.
while i am flapping my way toward a snack,
the eagle who waited is gliding on the air.
there is no issue of trust.
the wind will take him to food.
why do we weary in well-doing?
why does love die?
because we fail to wait.
why do our children not listen?
why do our ministers fall prey to temptation?
because we fail to wait.
why do we need a constant diet of violence
to keep our minds off our lives?
because we fail to wait.
why do we run out of energy in the middle of doing good?
you know the song now.
this time,
i have decided to wait.
amen