You may know that American author Flannery O’Connor was a sincere Christian. Even though her writings are not classified as religious works, they are deeply spiritual. You may not know that in her mid-twenties, she was stricken with Lupus, a terrible disease that attacks the joints. This severely restricted her movement, and she died young at the age of 39.

At one point, O’Connor’s aunt encouraged her to travel to Lourdes, France, to take a healing bath in the waters of the famous shrine there. O’Connor agreed to go, but only reluctantly. She wrote, “About the Lourdes business, I am going as a pilgrim, not a patient … I am one of those people who could die for his religion easier than I could take a bath for it.”

O’Connor understood that while miracles occasionally happen, they are not among God’s promises to us. While I am sure she would like to have been healed, in her own life, she found that her faith was about more than just receiving.

Sometimes we pray for miracles in our own lives, and I never want to count out that possibility. With God all things are possible. However, the witness of people of faith over the centuries is this: Even in the midst of our own struggles, there is something restorative about giving and serving others. When we get outside of our own heads and focus on something other than ourselves, at a minimum, our spirits are lifted.

I don’t know what you might be going through in your own life, but today I pray that God’s grace would uphold you. And, in giving to others, however, that might look, may you find new strength and courage and even joy.

Our prayer today has been handed down to us over many centuries. It was written by Thomas a Kempis in the 1400s. Let us pray: Write your blessed name, O Lord, upon my heart, there to remain so indelibly engraved, that no prosperity, no adversity, shall ever move me from your love. Be to me a strong tower of defense, a comforter in tribulation, a deliverer in distress, a very present help in trouble, and a guide to heaven through the many temptations and dangers of this life. Amen.

Today, I am deeply grateful for those of you who have supported the Dial Hope Foundation with a financial donation. So many people benefit from your giving!

At a huge conference for youth in Montreat, North Carolina, I heard singer/songwriter David LaMont speak as a keynote. I remember he told this group of 1,000 high school students that they could change the world. In fact, he said, you will change the world and you are changing the world, simply by being alive. The real question is whether you are changing it for the better or for the worse.

Another singer/songwriter Ben Harper wrote a song entitled, “With My Own Two Hands.” The words to that song are simple and true. Harper sings, “I can change the world, with my own two hands. I can make it a better place. I can make it a brighter place. I can make it a safer place. I can help the human race with my own two hands.”

Today, I invite you to look closely at your hands and ask the question, how can God use these hands this week?

Are there Habitat homes being built nearby? Are there people you can reach out to, people you know who are lonely or sad? Are there others who need to be fed or comforted?

I pray today that you would consider how you can change the world with your own two hands. Starting with the world right around you, how can you make it a better, brighter, more loving place?

Let us pray: Redeeming, healing God, we remember today that Jesus said we are to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world. We remember that you have blessed us in order to be a blessing to others. We recognize that our world is fractured and broken and yet we trust that you are at work to heal and make us whole again. Lord, we want to be the kind of people who work with you in that. We want to be the kind of people who make the world a better place.

We thank you for minds to think, eyes to see, hearts to feel, and hands to reach out. We offer to you today all that we have and all that we are. Show us, this week, how you want to use us to make a difference in this world that you so love. In Jesus’s name. Amen.

Today’s message was written by Rev. Dr. Roger Kunkel, founder of Dial Hope.

Listen to this profound epitaph found on an English gravestone: “What I kept, I lost. What I spent, I had. What I gave, I have.”

Friend of Dial Hope, as you well know, the art of keeping isn’t all bad. There will always be secrets to keep, treasures to store, memories to hold tightly. But some of us keep compulsively; we keep, keep, keep. We are hoarders. Although we keep actual objects, we lose the joy of possession. In spending, we no longer withhold or hide something.

This epitaph closes by reminding us that when we leave life, we only have what we gave and shared in love and trust. And this is one of life’s most difficult lessons to learn. Yet learn it you must, if you want a full life. When our lives come to the end, we will realize that we are the sum of our gifts – gifts of joy, gifts of time, gifts of dissent, gifts of comfort – all our gifts. We are not the sum of our possessions. We are not the sum of our accomplishments. We are finally the sum of our gifts. The persons I most respect are givers and not takers. Let’s hear it for generosity and gratitude.

Let us pray: Extravagant God, you have given the ultimate gift, the gift of your Son, Jesus Christ. We thank you for the gift of friendship with Jesus. Now help us to embrace each day as a gift, something sacred and special; a day to play with children, visit an older person, hug a friend; a day to do something generous and kind. Surprise us now with your joy and grace in unexpected places. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

One of my favorite stories in the Bible is the story of Jonah. God calls Jonah to a ministry and Jonah runs. He goes down to the nearest port and jumps on a ship heading to a city on the far side of the known world.

I don’t know about you, but there have definitely been times in my life when something like that has sounded very appealing. Sell everything I own. Go somewhere that is warm year-round. Find a job that is completely mindless. Leave behind the stress of life as I know it.

I was listening to a pastor speak the other day, and he began his message by saying, “You have everything you need to be completely content right here, right now. There is nothing else that you need to make your life complete, whole, joyful. Right now, God is providing you with everything you need.”

That’s kind of hard to get my mind around on one level. But on another level, it is tempting to think that my life would be so much better if…I’d just get that job promotion; if I’d just get into that college; if my boss were just a little more understanding; if I could just lose some weight; if he would just get well, if, if…

And what happens, you see, is that as we go through life there is always another if. And if we go through life always anxious about the next if, we end up with this sense of discontentment, discontentment with who we are, discontentment with what we have, discontentment with those around us and we lose the present moment, we lose the ability to appreciate and enjoy what is.

Today, I pray that you would notice that God has indeed given you everything you need, maybe not everything you want – but everything you need, right here and right now. And in this noticing, may you find peace.

Let us pray: Gracious God, we don’t have to look far to see your blessing surround us on every side. And we trust that you are ever with us. As we grow in our faith, and as we grow in our ability to serve you by serving the broken and hurting places of this world, we ask for courage, for strength, for contentment, and for a deep sense of your peace. Root us and ground us in your love. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

One evening on the beach, there were beautiful seashells scattered everywhere. These shells were not just the usual mix we find in northeast Florida. No, these seemed to be unique, and I picked up all kinds of sea treasure.

For the next several weeks, every time I went to the beach for a walk, I found myself with my head down, gazing across the sand, searching for more perfect shells. And, I did in fact find more. One morning, however, I looked up and noticed the ocean was a clear blue-green and the sky a brilliant blue. There was a light breeze, and the day was gorgeous. All of a sudden I realized that I had been so captivated by my search for sea shells that I almost missed the bigger picture.

Our life of faith can be just like this. There are times when our heads must be down – bowed in prayer. We all need renewal and strength for the journey. And there are rich treasures to be found in times of prayer and meditation.

But if we keep our heads down too long, we might miss the bigger picture. We might fail to notice the beauty and good of God’s creation all around us. And, we might miss opportunities to serve others and to grow.

These days, I try to walk part of the way with my head bowed in focused attention. And I try to walk the rest of the way with my eyes looking out and my heart wide open.

Let us pray: Loving God, help us to find a balance in life. Help us to carve out time for prayer, time to renew and replenish the soul. But please Lord, don’t let us get stuck there. Give us eyes to see the world around us – the tremendous beauty and the need. As we have received so may we give. Amen.