The other day, my good friend Jeep posted some thoughts about leaving people behind. I've been thinking of what he said all day long: while waiting tables, while cleaning my kitchen, while doing my finances. And then I started Isaiah.
I've always felt that departures are harder on the people left behind than they are on the leavers. Part of what I was thinking about today was all the ways I have left and been left by others. When I opened up my Bible after work, I was wondering how to be a good leaver and how to be left well. And BAM! Isaiah opens up with this incredibly emotional wake-up call to Israel from God.
I wonder if I'll ever quit being surprised by this God who is often left behind. Why would God let himself be lefft? What does he feel like when his prized possessions are the ones doing the leaving?
"I come from a long line of leavers,
out of the garden gate, with an apple in their hand.
And I expect an unbeliever
is gonna run out of love,
is gonna give me the shove,
cuz that's the thing that lovers do.
And then there's you."
-- Caedmon's Call