In his book Sabbatical Journeys, Henri Nouwen wrote about the special relationship that trapeze artists have with one another when performing. He had some friends known as the Flying Rodleighs, and they described to him what goes on between the flyer and the catcher. They told Nouwen that the flyer is the one who lets go of the trapeze, and the catcher is the one who catches. As the flyer swings high above the crowd on the trapeze, the moment comes when he must let go. As he arcs out into the air, his only job is to remain as still as possible and wait for the strong hands of the catcher to pluck him from the air.

One of the Rodleighs told Nouwen, “The flyer must never try to catch the catcher.” The flyer must wait in absolute trust. The catcher will catch him, but for the catcher to be able to do that, the flyer must let go and completely trust that he will be caught.

On telling this story, my friend Charley Landreth said, “In living and in dying we must trust the Catcher.” He went on to tell about his grandmother Celia. He said he could remember sitting on her lap as a child in her rocking chair, her arms extended around him. She would read to him, sometimes from the Bible, sometimes from another book. “Trust the Lord with all your heart,” she would say.

Charley continued, “It’s been almost a whole lifetime since that early instruction and I am still learning to trust the Lord. You see, I’m a slow learner.”

Aren’t we all, Charley? Aren’t we all?

Let us pray: Loving God, in our everyday lives sometimes it is hard to trust. We want to take control. We want to hedge our bets. But eventually, we all come to a point when we realize that we have very little control. We need you. Help us today to trust that you are with us and that our lives rest in your loving hands. We ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.