We are bleeding humanity: How the church needs to respond
An eagle’s lesson on rising above life’s storms
Photo by Mathew Schwartz on Unsplash
It’s interesting in Scripture that the prophet Isaiah speaks of the children of God being able to “mount up with wings like eagles.” There is no accident in Sacred Scripture and every word, image, and comparison is intentional from the Lord God. This imagery is no exception.
The eagle is an important symbol for many cultures in the world, specifically the Native Americans. For Native American tribes, the eagle is a source of trust, honor, strength, wisdom, power, and freedom. It’s the reason that even a single eagle feather holds special significance to Native Americans. The eagle is also the only bird that can teach us how to rise above storms in life.
“Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.” (Isaiah 40:30-31)
Isaiah warns there will be a time when even the youngest, strongest, and best of people will be tired and exhausted. No one will be immune from the eyes of God and from his judgment. He continues to encourage those who follow the Lord that they will overcome the storms raging around them. Isaiah says that it is those who WAIT on the Lord that will “mount up with wings like eagles.”
Eagles are unlike any other bird. When a storm is approaching, all the birds except the eagle will run for cover and seek shelter. They flee from the storm. It is only the eagle that waits for the storm and seeks out the strength of the violent winds. The eagle waits for the storm, and it flies into the tempest rather than running from it. When the eagle flies into the storm, it actively engages the turbulent winds to use those them to fly higher. The eagle knows that if it can use the storm itself to propel it to greater heights then the eagle will fly high enough to soar above the storm. It is the way the eagle not only survives the storm, but it defeats it using the storm’s own energy.
We, too, are called to see that we can rise above the storms in life. Like the eagle, we can use the power of the force against us to strengthen us to greater heights in our faith. When we see God in the storm using the forces opposing us for good, then we not only survive it, but we rise above and defeat it.
The storm helps the eagle rise to success. Without the storm, the eagle may soar lower than its potential and not experience the beauty of the heights it could reach. We all have moments in our life where we wish there were no problems, betrayals, pain, suffering, sickness, or stress. However, like the eagle, without the storm we may never understand or see our true potential as children of God. We may never experience the beauty of the things God will do in us and through us if we run from the storm and seek to avoid it.
Do not wish for the extinction of problems and storms. Without the storm, our potential is limited. Do not run from the storm, rather prepare for the height of faith. Prepare to soar with the Lord. You only have to wait.
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About the Author
Amelia Monroe Carlson graduated from the University of North Alabama with a Bachelor’s Degree in journalism. Being raised as a Methodist during her early years, it was not until she entered college where she began to take her faith seriously. She was baptized as a Southern Baptist in Muscle Shoals, AL and began immediately serving in international missions and in the church.
During college, she became the Co-founder of an International Ministry, where she spent time traveling and speaking to church groups and in large conferences. She authored a Bible study and traveled abroad on mission work. She sat on the Mid-South Interfaith Conferences in Mississippi, where she defended the faith and discussed beliefs with leaders of various religions.
After a business trip to Washington D.C., where she was introduced to a former Baptist who converted to the Catholic Church, she was placed on a journey to enter into the Catholic Church.
Amelia is a military wife and currently residents with her husband and daughter in Tennessee. She is a nine time award winning journalist, receiving press awards for various categories including investigative journalism, best news coverage, and best single feature. It is her desire to help Catholics, particularly Cradle Catholics, see the beauty in their faith which converts see and appreciate the fullness of truth which the Church has held and guarded throughout history. It is her desire all Catholics fall as much in love with Jesus as she is, and love the Church to a greater capacity than they could imagine.
Amelia taught PRE for 4-6 grade at St. Mary Catholic Church in Bolivar, Tennessee from 2014-2016. She served as Youth Director at St. Philip the Apostle Catholic Church in Somerville, Tennessee in 2017-2018. She now teaches 7th grade (1st year Confirmation) PRE class at St. Philip. She's also a writer and frequent podcast guest on Our Warpath.
She has a strong devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe, St. Francis de Sales, St. Padre Pio and St. Maximilian Kolbe.
To contact Amelia for speaking inquiries at conferences, retreats, or parishes contact her via social media on Facebook (Amelia Monroe Carlson), Twitter (@2_catholic ) or send a text to: (731)518-6923.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ameliamcarlson
Twitter: @2_catholic (Catholic ministry account)
Twitter personal account: @ameliamcarlson
