In a Peanuts cartoon, Charlie Brown and Linus are standing next to each other, staring at a star-filled sky. “Would you like to see a falling star?” Charlie Brown asks Linus.

“Sure…” Linus responds. “Then again, I don’t know,” he adds, after some thought. “I’d hate to have it fall just on my account.”

In the book Parables of Peanuts, Robert Short uses this cartoon to make the point that a star did fall on our account. God came down to us as Jesus, and he went to the cross. There he defeated the powers of evil and even death. And, he showed us the depths of his love for us.

I pray today, no matter where you are on the journey of life that, you would know in the very deepest part of your being, God’s love for you.

Let us pray: You are holy and majestic, O God. You hold the world in the palms of your hand, and you hold us. We thank you for coming to us in Jesus. We thank you for your sacrificial love and amazing grace. And on this Veteran’s Day, we give thanks for those people who have served us sacrificially. Show us how we might be a blessing to them this day. Amen.

Today’s message was written by my friend Roger Kunkel.

I love the month of November. It is the month of Thanksgiving. It is a month filled with unlimited possibilities. When is the last time your possibilities gave you goose pimples?

Today I want you to focus on this verse from 1 Corinthians 13:8, “Love never fails.”

The seeking love of God often comes in unexpected places and in unlikely ways. When one is young, it is easy to fall in love and easy to fall out of love. Young love is tender and fragile. The first love may be followed by another as one grows tired of the first romance or finds another face that is prettier. How different is the love of God! God never grows tired, never leaves one for another, never forsakes because he has been forsaken. Hosea discovered this unrelenting love of God. This is the story the Bible tells and retells – the story of a love that will not let God’s people go. Francis Thompson speaks of him as “The Hound of Heaven” that pursues and continues to pursue. George Matheson wrote of it, and we sing of it as, “O Love that Wilt Not Let Me Go.”

Which one of us does not know something personally of this love? Which of us has done enough to deserve such a love? Yet we feel the warm love of our Lord breaking anew into our lives in some unexpected moment. More clearly still we see the love of God when we look at the cross. In the agony of death – isn’t that an unexpected place to find God’s love? This is love that never fails, the seeking love of God.

Let us pray: Loving God, your message is not sent in secret code, but in the plainest and simplest of words. It is a love letter to us. Help us to treasure it always, to live in love, and always to expect further messages. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

The poet and philosopher John O’Donohue really gets at this for me when he writes about what he calls a second innocence. This innocence is different from the first innocence we have as children. That innocence is based on naive trust.

 The second innocence can be developed only later in life when you lived deeply. Only after you’ve experienced the underside of life. You know its incredible capacity to disappoint and sometimes destroy. Yet, in spite of that, somehow you are still able to maintain a deeper sense of hope – and even joy. That is the second kind of innocence our faith can help us develop. 

O’Donohue writes this, “It is lovely to meet an old person whose face is deeply lined, a face that has been deeply inhabited, to look into the eyes and find light there. That light is not inexperienced but rather innocent in its trust in the good and the true and the beautiful. Such a gaze from an old face is a kind of blessing. 

When I read this, I couldn’t help but think about my friend Jim Campbell, who died earlier this year. I always thought of him as the mayor of his retirement community. We went to lunch once a month for years, and he always had a big smile and a great sense of humor. He was very generous, and ever-joking – gently poking fun. After lunch, we would visit people in the skilled nursing area, and Jim always wanted to offer the prayer. Unless he told you, you’d never know that Jim had outlived his wife, and had buried three of his four children as adults. They died in separate but tragic events over the course of many years. 

The thing about Jim, this man had been on a path of faith all his life. Over the years he had repeatedly put into practice the core tenants of the Christian tradition: trust, generosity, hope, forgiveness… He saw the worst of what life can do. And yet… there was a profound faith, a light, and a hope that tragedy could not touch.  

I’ve been in the ministry long enough to know that this doesn’t just happen. It takes a lifetime of practice.

Let us pray: Be near to those who need you near this day, O God. Help us to engage our faith now. Deepen our ability to forgive, to trust, and to give, even when every fiber of our being resists. Create in us a “second innocence,” that we might experience your peace, and be instruments of that peace, through Christ our Lord. Amen. 

John R. Brokhoff tells a story about the great pianist, Paderewski. Apparently, Paderewski had a friend whose little girl was preparing for a piano recital. Out of respect for his friend, he accepted an invitation to the little girl’s recital. However, when the day came and she saw the famous pianist in the audience, she got stage fright, forgot her piece, and broke down in tears. 

At the close of the concert, Paderewski said nothing to her but went up and tenderly kissed her on the forehead and left. 

Brokhoff made the point that if that little girl had not made the mistake and failed, she would not have received a kiss of love and understanding from the master pianist.”

It is the experience of many, that it is in moments of failure and struggle that God’s mercy and grace are most palpable. In fact, I’ve heard it said that some Native Americans have a tradition of leaving a blemish in the corner of a blanket they are weaving – because they believe that is where the Spirit will enter.

I wonder how your personal blemishes, failures, and shortcomings might be a portal for God’s grace, mercy, and love. 

In the Message version of the Gospel of Luke, Jesus says, “You are Blessed when you’ve lost it all. The Kingdom of God is there for the finding!”

Let us pray: We thank you, Loving God, for your unconditional love and forgiveness. Today we pray that in a mighty way, you would use our past mistakes and failures to come into our lives anew. Restore us, and set us on a new path. We ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Today, I want to offer something a little different. Just as I did yesterday, I want to offer you a guided meditation as our message and prayer. 

Yesterday we prayed for a loved one and for ourselves. Today, we remember that Jesus told us to pray for those who persecute us and to love our enemies (Matthew 6..)… That’s not easy. But when we hold hatred, bitterness, or resentment in our hearts, it is detrimental to our own health, well-being and even salvation. We need to learn to let go. 

I invite you to read this slowly. Close your eye’s as you are able and take the prayer into your heart. Begin by taking a couple of deep breaths. Breath in God’s Spirit, breathe out. Breath in God’s Spirit. Breath out…

Today, I invite you to imagine someone in your mind’s eye with whom you’ve had disagreements or someone you dislike. Maybe it is a political leader who is contrary to everything you stand for… This could also be someone who may have hurt you. But just pick one person and get them in your mind’s eye. And offer this prayer, for them… 

May God protect you… May God give you happiness… May God give you health… May God give you peace… (pause a moment and continue to hold them in your mind’s eye. Call them by name.) May you be protected… May you be happy… May you be healthy… May you live with ease… 

We offer you these our prayers today, in all humility and hope, in Jesus’ name. Amen.