Sometime back in West Memphis, Arkansas, three young men were charged with murder. When they made it to court, the father of one of the victims suddenly rushed at the young men screaming, “I’ll chase you all the way to hell.” One writer observed, “I understand the father’s fierce anger, but there is something almost prophetic about his words. If we allow our hatred for those who have wronged us to go unchecked, it will eventually destroy us. We will follow our bitterness ‘all the way to hell.'”

When, Peter asked Jesus, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him, Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.”

In truth, forgiveness is less about the other person and more about us. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want what someone else did to me to control me. I don’t want hatred and rage to own me. When we forgive others, more than anything else we set ourselves free. 

Let us pray: God of grace, we praise you for your unconditional love and forgiveness of us. I pray today, especially for those who are struggling to forgive others. Empower them to walk away from the situation if need be, but then to let go, to forgive, and to move on. Today, may your Spirit rest on each of us, granting us your peace. Amen.

Sometimes I’ve wondered, why is it we can put a man on the moon, but can’t solve problems of hunger? Why is it we can put a powerful computer in everybody’s pocket, and connect people all over the world in an instant, but can’t curb gun violence – even in our schools?

I think we’ve come to realize that one of the reasons why science and technology have advanced so far is because the whole model, the whole scientific method, is based on the ability to say, I don’t know. I’ve got this theory. It may be wrong, but let’s test it. Even, let’s prove it wrong and learn something. And when scientists do approach a problem thinking they know the answer, or need the answer to be in line with those who are funding the study, that’s when everything goes wrong. Every bias plays in… Blind spots are everywhere…

On the other hand, it is a stance of openness, humility, willingness to admit we were wrong, and a desire to learn that takes us far down the road.  

This is one of the things faith and science have in common. 

Thirteenth-century Christian Mystic Meister Eckhard once wrote: “Where (God) is to be heard, there must be stillness and silence… There (God) can be heard and properly understood, and there (in that stillness and silence,) we are in a state of unknowing. Where we know nothing, there God reveals himself and makes himself known.”

In other words, there is a letting go of what we think we know – an opening of mind and spirit that allows room for God to do something new within us. There is a level of humility that makes space for healing and growth, and that ultimately allows our relationships to flourish.

Let us pray: God of grace, sometimes we think we have it all figured out, and that we have you all figured out. And we admit that sense of certitude is limiting. Help us to let you, and to trust you.  Grant us open minds and open hearts that you would do a new thing in us. Bring healing where it is needed. We ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Pastor and author James Moore tells a story about a young man whose wife had died, leaving him with a small son. Back home from the cemetery, they went to bed early because there was nothing else he could bear to do.

As he lay there in the darkness, grief-stricken and heartbroken, the little boy broke the stillness from his little bed with the question, “Daddy, where is mommy?” The father got up and brought the little boy to bed with him. However, the child was still disturbed and restless, occasionally asking questions like “Why isn’t she here?” and When is she coming back?”

Finally, the little boy said, “Daddy, if your face is toward me, I think I can go to sleep now.” And in a little while he was quiet. The father lay there in the darkness, and then in childlike faith, prayed this prayer: “O God, I don’t see how I can survive this. The future looks so miserable. But if your face is toward me, somehow I think I can make it.” 

In the book of Romans the apostle Paul wrote:

“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or the sword?… No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” (Romans 8:35)

The promise is not that hardship or persecution or danger would disappear – but that God’s face is towards us, and that God’s love is powerful enough to carry us through.

Let us pray: I pray, Loving God, for those who are in the midst of the heartaches and dangers of life. May they know that your face is toward them and that through your mighty love, there will be a way forward. Amen.

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

We often see a sign over stores reading “under new management.” Friend of Dial Hope, when God takes over the management of our lives we may still blunder, and we may still present the same old face to the world, but there is hope of a new beat, a new spirit, a new honesty, a new reality. Wherever we are on our spiritual journey, may we put our lives “under new management – God’s management.” And remember, God has blessed us so we may be a blessing to others. Now make this day a masterpiece… With God’s help. 

Let us pray: “Take my life and let it be consecrated Lord to thee. Take my moments and my days; let them flow in ceaseless praise. Let them flow in ceaseless praise. Take my will and make it Thine; It shall be no longer mine. Take my heart, it is Thine own; It shall be Thy royal throne.” Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

There is a song by the band Casting Crowns that I like: I Will Praise You in the Storm. And sometimes in the midst of the storms of life, I’ve listened to this song, and in those moments, I’ve wanted desperately to get there – to be able to offer praise in spite of the circumstances. It can feel like a surrender, a relief.  

I can’t start there. No one can. But I do want to get there.

We all know people who have had a tragic event in their life, and they can’t seem to move on from it. I have a good friend who lost his wife back in 2019. It was devastating. I can’t even begin to imagine that level of grief. It was so overpowering, that life lost its luster. The tragedy is that now, even four years later, he’s stuck. 

I’ve heard it said, that there is a certain kind of despair that sets in when we begin to believe that our best days are behind us.

A colleague, in writing about the loss of his own son way too young, said, of course, it was devastating. And, admittedly, he will never be the same. He wept and wept. He lamented. He was angry. Angry at God. But he said that at some point he realized there were two roads forward, mutually exclusive. One was the road of bitterness and cynicism (which becomes a way of being). And one was the road of gratitude, gratitude for the life that was lived, gratitude for the time he was given.

At some point, we choose to move from victim to survivor. Am I going to become embittered and cynical, or am I going to find the blessings around the edge? Even amidst the mourning, can I learn what I need to learn, can I grow stronger, can I find gratitude?

Today, may you remember that God is with you in the midst of the storm. And even though they may be hard to see right now, there are blessings ever around you. 

Let us pray: Loving God, hold tight to those who need you near right now. Lay your healing hands on them. Help them sense your presence, and glimpse your grace. In Christ’s name. Amen.