In his book, Will Daylight Come?, Richard Hoefler tells a story about a young boy who was visiting his grandparents. The boy was given a slingshot as a gift, and while he was out practicing in the woods he found he was having a terrible time hitting his target. As he came back to Grandma’s backyard, he noticed her pet duck. On an impulse, he took aim and let the rock fly. This time the rock hit right on target, and the duck fell dead. Of course, the boy panicked. He hid the dead duck in the woodpile, only to look up and see his sister Sally watching. Sally had seen it all, but she said nothing.  

After lunch that day, Grandma said, “Sally, let’s wash the dishes.” But Sally said, “Johnny told me he wanted to help in the kitchen today. Didn’t you, Johnny?” And she whispered to him, “Remember the duck!” So Johnny did the dishes. Later Grandpa asked if the children wanted to go fishing. Grandma said, “I’m sorry, but I need Sally to help make supper.” Sally smiled and said, “That’s all taken care of. Johnny wants to do it.” Again she whispered, “Remember the duck.” Johnny stayed while Sally went fishing.  

After several days of Johnny doing both his chores and Sally’s, finally he couldn’t stand it. He confessed to Grandma that he’d killed the duck. “I know, Johnny,” she said, giving him a hug. “I was standing at the window and saw the whole thing. Because I love you, I forgave you. I just wondered how long you would let Sally make a slave of you.”

Now Sally sounds like she belongs in the mafia! But, there’s something true about this story. Sometimes we become a slave to our past, don’t we? We allow our guilt to stay with us – even to define us.

In the first letter of John, we read, “If we say that we are without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.” And then John adds this: “But if we confess our sin, God who is faithful and just will forgive us our sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Let us pray: We turn over to you today our past mistakes and failures. Help us to know your forgiveness, amend our ways, and to rest free in your grace. Amen.

There is a Charlie Brown comic strip in which Lucy and her brother Linus have just finished a chicken dinner and Lucy is explaining to Linus how to make a wish on the wishbone. “This is a wishbone, Linus,” she says. “We both make our wishes and then pull it apart. Whoever breaks off the biggest part gets his wish.”

Linus asks, “Do we wish out loud?” Lucy replies, “Of course, we wish out loud. If you don’t wish out loud the wish-answerer won’t know what to bring you.”

Lucy begins the wishing: “Let’s see now! I wish for a new doll, a new bicycle, four new sweaters, some new saddle shoes, a wrist watch, and about one hundred dollars.” Linus then gets his turn: “I wish for long life for all my friends. I wish for peace in the world. I wish for great advancement in the fields of science and medicine and…” But by this time Lucy is throwing away the unbroken wishbone in disgust, saying, “You seem to have a knack for spoiling everything.”

I have to imagine that most of us have both a little bit of Lucy and Linus within us. I call them the Lucy bent and the Linus bent. The Lucy bent is our selfish side, and it comes naturally to most of us. The Linus bent, however, is more human and humane. It takes a little more practice to live out of this side of ourselves. But, when we are able to get our minds off of ourselves, when we wish better for others and work for better for others, we find ourselves more joyful and more at peace.

The apostle Paul once wrote, “Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus… “

Let us pray: Loving God, we want to live out of a sense of contentment with who we are and with what we have. Grant us your grace. Help us to find ways to nourish and feed the “Linus” side of our personalities – to love and care for others. We ask this in Jesus’ name. Amen.

While on my sabbatical last summer, my daughters and I had the opportunity to surf in the North Sea off the rugged coastline of Scotland. The water was emerald green, the sheer rocky cliffs dropped directly into the water, and pasture land rolled right up to the shore. The waves were powerful and well formed – near perfect for surfing.

The location, Farr Bay, felt like a “thin place”, a place where the veil between heaven and earth was at its thinnest. We could sense the presence of God.

John Philip Newell writes about early Celtic Christianity: “The shoreline, that liminal space between land and sea, between known and unknown, the soil of our habitation and the waters of life’s origins, was (seen as) a portal that opened to the union of the temporal and the eternal, the seen and the unseen.”

For some of you, it is the shoreline, whether river, lake, stream, or ocean, that is for you a thin place. For others of you, it may be the mountains, or open ocean, or the vast plains. For others still, it is the quiet of a sanctuary or early morning in the garden. Wherever it may be for you, I hope you find yourself there often.

Let us pray: We thank you, O God, for making your presence known to us in various times and places throughout life. Through these glimpses, may we gain strength and courage for the journey. Amen.

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

One of the greatest truths of the Bible is … We – you and I – are made in the image of God. Talk about a miracle! God made cats and dogs, hummingbirds, red cardinals, squirrels, elephants, giraffes, pelicans, dolphins, and the duck-billed platypus. God made the trees, the flowers, and skies. God made all of it and said, “That’s good! Now, that’s good!” And to cap it all off, God said, “Now, for the masterpiece: I am going to create something like myself!” And God made you! You see, it is a sin for us to say, “Well, I’m only human.” If you want to see one of God’s miracles, don’t gather pine cones, don’t look at the Milky Way, don’t capture a squirrel, and don’t find a picture of a trout stream, just look at the person next to you. There is God’s miracle! There is the crown of God’s creation! 

Let us pray: Creator God, we marvel at your small wonders and your overarching grandeur. We crouch down to examine a centipede and we stand on a mountaintop to try to take in the Milky Way. We listen to the tiny cry of a newborn kitten and we cringe in the face of the roar of the thunderstorm. We are small indeed in the scheme of the universe, but we are grateful that you have made us in your image. When we are weary, give us energy. When we are sad, give us comfort. For all those who are suffering loss, who wonder what will happen next, we pray that you will walk before them and enable us to be companions along the way. Now “raise us up on eagle’s wings, bear us on the breath of dawn, make us to shine like the sun, and hold us in the palm of your hand.” (On Eagles Wings, based on Psalm 91). We ask this in Jesus’ name, the friend of all. Amen. 

In my Dial Hope message yesterday, I shared a story about how a young man who was addicted to drugs had a turning point when he found himself weeping on the street. 

Tears are often turning points.

If you do a word study, you will find that the Bible is actually full of tears. Abraham wept. Hagar wept. Joseph, Hannah, Jonathan and King David, Elijah, Jeremiah all wept. The people of Israel sat down and wept when in Babylon they remembered Zion. Peter and John both wept. Mary and Martha wept, and Jesus wept. Paul wept and was wept over, and he challenged Christians to “weep with those who weep.” 

That word is used 122 times in the Bible! Not to mention how many other times throughout the scriptures people cry out to God. Tears are not only a critical part of life, they are also a critical part of faith.

Great American writer Frederick Buechner once made the claim that tears are essential guides. He wrote, “Whenever you find tears in your eyes, it is well to pay the closest attention. They are not only telling you something about the secret of who you are, but more often than not, God is speaking to you through them of the mystery of where you have come from, and is summoning you to where, if your soul is to be saved, you should go next.”

May you come to see whether you find yourself weeping for yourselves or for others, our tears are a gift. But we don’t grieve as those who are without hope. We weep as those who trust that our tears are seeds of hope. And we weep as those who know the God who brings life out of death, and who has promised to make all things new. 

Let us pray: God of grace, may the tears we shed truly be seeds of hope. May our hearts be open through them to your healing grace and to your gentle nudging. We ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.