A Glimpse of God’s Love

I was struck by an excerpt written by a soldier who had been wounded in the American Civil War. He was writing about seeing President Lincoln who had made a visit to the hospital where he lay in recovery. This soldier wrote, “I had a good home, and I had learned in church that God is compassionate. But I don’t think I understood compassion till the day that I saw suffering in Lincoln’s face. The boy in the next bed was dying, and the president sat there for two hours with this lad, clutching his hand. The Secretary of War and a couple of generals were trying to move the president along — I think for a cabinet meeting. But Lincoln wouldn’t move. He sat there in the stench and in the noise and he talked with that boy about home… The president talked with him till he died. And I saw the tiredness in (the president’s) face and the sadness of his eyes and then I knew things about God that I’d never known before.”

When we see acts of compassion and sacrifice and love, it resonates deeply within us. When we glimpse this type of beauty, we really do get a glimpse of what God is like. 

Let us pray: Loving God, you know our pain. You hear us when we cry out, and you suffer with us in our hurt. Thank you for your nearness to us. Thank you for the love and sacrifice and compassion that we see in others – a reminder of what it means to be created in your image. Help us to walk in your ways and follow your truth. 

Today we especially lift up those who need you near. We pray for families suffering separation, loved ones who are ill, military families who are worried or scared, and veterans who need an extra measure of love and care. God of grace, we offer our prayers for the needs of others and commit ourselves to serve them even as we have been served in Jesus Christ. Amen.