There’s an old apocryphal story about a photographer assigned by a national magazine to take pictures of a forest fire. The assignment editor told him a small plane would be waiting at the airport to fly him over the fire. The photographer arrived at the airstrip just an hour before sundown. Sure enough, a small Cessna airplane stood waiting. He jumped in with his equipment and shouted, “Let’s go!” The pilot, a tense-looking man, turned the plane into the wind, and soon they were in the air but flying quite erratically.

Not paying too much attention to how the pilot was flying, the photographer directed him. “Fly over the north side of the fire, and make several low-level passes.” Looking at the smoke and blazing fire, the nervous pilot exclaimed, “Are you sure? Why would you want me to do that?” “Because I’m going to take pictures!” yelled the photographer. “I’m a photographer, and photographers take pictures.” With an even more worried look on his face, the pilot replied, “You mean you’re not the flight instructor?”

The story is funny, and sure enough, there are times in life when we make mistakes. Sometimes grave mistakes. It is in moments like these when the foundation of our faith makes all the difference when what we believe comes to bear. Without faith, we feel lost, without mooring, without guidance.

The poet and philosopher John O’Donahue once said, “…for parenting, for relationships, and for all the domains of our endeavor and work, to have access to a religious tradition is a huge, strengthening, critical resource, which keeps you wide awake and makes you ask yourself the hard questions.”

It can keep you from becoming in-grown and bitter… or cynical and hardened. It can keep you open and generous. And it can keep you from losing your bearings. 

O’Donohue went on to say, “…it is not that our tradition doesn’t have dark passages in it. But, there are also zones of great light and immense wells of refreshment and healing. And it’s a critical question, always, for somebody who wants to have a mature adult faith, to conduct the most vigorous and relentless conversation that you can with your own tradition, to mine and excavate it for the huge reserve of resources of spirit and guidance…”

I pray today that you and I would draw deeply from the immense wells of refreshment, guidance, and healing within our own traditions. And as we do, whether we are facing moments of crisis, danger, loneliness, or despair, or whether we are celebrating or even just muddling through the middles, may we find that our lives are rooted and grounded in the heart and presence of Christ who loves us.

Let us pray: Loving God, create in us the desire to know you more deeply and love you more fully. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen. 

About a month ago, a young woman came by our church to ask for help. We sat down to talk and she shared with me that she and her boyfriend had been living in his car for the last several nights. They had lost their apartment and were trying to scrape up enough money to get back into some sort of rental. They were still trying to keep their jobs but had nowhere to take showers. She also said she was scared of sleeping in the car. 

Over the years of ministry, I’ve heard a lot of stories. Some of them I’m sure were true, and some of them were cons. I am always aware of that possibility, but I always try to help if I can. You just never know.

In this case, we did not have the resources to help much. But I was able to give her some gift cards to a local grocery store. As she was getting up to leave, she said, “Please pray for us.” I asked if she wanted me to pray for her right then, and she said, “Yes.” And so I prayed.

After the prayer, she looked up and said, “So, that’s what it feels like to be prayed for.” And she smiled.

The problems that young woman faced were deep. And I know that one prayer may not change the struggles she faces. But her response did remind me about the power of prayer, and the power of praying for someone else.  

I wonder who you know who could use a prayer. I wonder who you could be praying for today.

Let us pray: Keep us open, O God, to those most in need. May we ever be looking for ways to help them with our resources. And, may we never fail to lift them up to you in prayer. We trust you again with our own lives. And we ask you to continue to work healing and grace in us so that we might be agents of that same blessing to others. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

In his second letter to the Corinthians, the Apostle Paul writes about experiencing what he called “a thorn in the flesh.” We don’t know exactly what that was, but most scholars believe that Paul was most likely dealing with some physical ailment. The word Paul uses for torment, means excruciating pain.

Three times, Paul pleaded with the Lord to remove it. But the Lord said, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (2Corinthians 12:7)

Power out of weakness? Have you ever experienced that?

I think about how in moments of weakness – there is less pride in us, less willfulness, less self to get in the way, and therefore, more room for God’s Spirit to do a new thing. I think about how in moments of weakness, and vulnerability, we develop a deeper sense of compassion for others. We begin to know personally what it’s like…

I think about the way in which God can and does use the broken, the hurting, the heartbroken places of the world to be seedbeds of new life. I think about the people I know who have used their own personal experiences to overcome struggles and who then reach out to help the next person through.

I think about the cross.

Paul’s rivals believed that God’s power was best seen in the claiming of status, accomplishments, and might. But Paul saw it differently. In this same letter, he writes to the Corinthians that he did not come with lofty words of wisdom. He admits that he often found himself in humbling – if not humiliating circumstances. He said he made no credible defense when he was among them. He acknowledges that he took on demeaning work. His opponents labeled him weak in bodily presence. 

And yet, Paul says, it is precisely in this weakness that you can see God’s power. Just look at what God has done through this one broken man. Just look at what God has done through one broken man the cross.

I don’t know where you may be experiencing weakness in your own life. I don’t know what you may be struggling with in your faith, in your ministries, or in your relationships.

But as you continue on this great pilgrimage of faith, may you hear again the Lord’s words to Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you…(whatever the outcome,) for my power is made perfect in weakness.”

Let us pray: God of Grace, take our weakness, our hurts, our burdens, and heal what you will. Grant us courage and strength. And give us a heart to trust that you are at work even in our brokenness, even now, to make all things new. Amen.

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

A young woman stood before Beethoven’s piano in a Vienna museum. Presently she struck a few discordant notes. “I suppose,” she said to an attendant, “that many noted musicians have inspected this instrument.” “Oh, yes,” replied the man. “Recently Paderewski was here.” “Paderewski!” exclaimed the visitor. “Certainly, he must have played something wonderful.” “On the contrary, he did not feel worthy to touch it.” 

Friend of Dial Hope, wherever you are, this very moment – in a hospital bed, driving to work, your home, your place of business, a payphone, a helicopter over Iraq – you are on holy ground. It is holy because God is with you! Whether your heart is smiling or sad, whether you are lonely or afraid, whether you are hurting, whether you are celebrating – God is as close to you as breathing, nearer than hands or feet. Remember, God loves you just the way you are, but God refuses to leave you there. God wants you to have a heart like his. God wants you to be just like Jesus. Let today be a day filled with joy, hope, and contagious enthusiasm. 

Let us pray: God of love, we await the miracle of your grace in this time of prayer. Change the chemistry of our doubts and discouragements into a willingness to live the venture of faith. Give us the spontaneous emotion of a child of faith. In the name of the risen Christ. Amen.