There is a huge contrast in our Scripture readings today between where Isaiah found God and where Simon Peter found him. Isaiah met the Lord in the splendor of the Temple, where Isaiah had a powerful vision of angels serving God, praising God’s holiness, and marveling at the Lord’s glory that filled the earth. Simon Peter, on the other hand, found God in a boat near the seashore where he and his fellow fishermen were washing their empty nets after a long, futile night trying to make a catch. So Simon Peter and his fishing buddies, James and John, did not find the Lord in a majestic temple but in the course of their hard work. The point to these readings is that we can find God just about anywhere if we just look closely enough.
On Tuesday, February 11, we will be celebrating World Day of the Sick. It will be our annual reminder to the look for God in the sick, the aging, those with broken bodies, minds, and spirits.