"A Changing Landscape" by Kathy Mazi
“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh” (Ezekiel 36:26).
In March, life’s “normal” was abruptly halted. As we entered the unfamiliar territory of the pandemic, my anxiety rose. Despair was beginning to settle in. Not only had the landscape of my life changed, but my physical landscape also changed. Here’s the back story.
There is a creek that runs behind my house. Over the last ten years, erosion has taken its toll on the creek bank, tearing away yards, upending trees, and causing them to fall on fences and outbuildings. It was a mess. Neighbors banded together, and the city heard our cry. A plan to stabilize the creek was created and approved. Phase One of the plan began the first day of the “Shutdown.” The tree company brought in big equipment and took down nearly every tree along the bank and in the woods adjacent to our property, forever changing my forest animal friends’ landscape and habitats. Where lush green vegetation had dominated, I now viewed ugly, brown nothingness. And my heart sank.
Navigating so many changes during these unprecedented times is hard. But we have options. Take a look at the Israelites while under Babylonian captivity. Talk about landscape change. With their world turned upside down, they could choose denial, despair, or use the catastrophe to embrace God. The prophet Ezekiel serves as the mouthpiece of the Almighty as He says: “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you. I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.”
Friends, as we travel through Advent this year, let’s choose to embrace God and be filled with the spirit He has placed inside us. We need peace now more than ever, and God keeps His promises.
P.S. I am looking forward to the next phases of our creek project as the creek is stabilized, trees are planted, and prairie grasses cover the brown terrain. More promises kept.
Kathy Mazi