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

Friend of Dial Hope, I have a small calculator on my desk which I use to figure out my finances and store personal data for ready reference. It's amazing how much information can be typed into the memory factors of this mechanical brain. On the left side of the keyboard is a powerful button. It is called the clear button. When I make a mistake, a touch of the clear button and it is eliminated immediately. Each time I use this calculator I am reminded of how much it's like the brain. It has the capacity to store good and bad memories. How often I wish I had a clear button to press to immediately correct my mistakes, or that I had the capacity to bring up old memories that disturb me and have them taken away, never to be thought about again. Then, as I contemplate how wonderful that would be, I am reminded how the Lord has built into us a "clear" button. It's called forgiveness. When we accept his forgiveness, we can forgive ourselves, and then, out of the assurance of that grace, forgive others. Today, friend of Dial Hope, press the forgiveness button - now! 

Let us pray: Into the clutter of our everyday lives, O Lord, you come with your heavenly order: into the weakness, you come with your strength; into the sin, you come with your holiness. Give us the grace to receive you now, to open the doors of our beings and invite you in, not just over the threshold but into the innermost parts, the upper rooms and lower rooms, the nooks and crannies, and closets. Dwell in us, O Lord, that we may glow this day with your light and pulsate with your presence. Help us to make this day a masterpiece as we rejoice in hope, in Jesus' name. Amen. 

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There's an old story about a man on a golf course, teed up overlooking a beautiful water shot. He's debating whether to use his new ball, which might carry further, or an old ball he won't mind losing. As he's thinking, a voice booms down from heaven: "Use the new ball." "Thanks, God!" So the man tees up the new ball, and just as he's about to swing, the voice booms again: "Take a practice swing." "Okay, God." He takes a practice swing and steps up again. Then a third time the voice booms down: "On second thought, use the old ball."

Don't you wish God's voice was that clear? Most of the time we really have to listen. Many people try to listen as they read and meditate on scripture — a time-tested path. But we know God speaks to us in other ways as well.

In her book Soul Feast, Marjorie Thompson makes the point that the very circumstances of our lives can be one of the ways God communicates with us. She writes, "God opens some doors and closes others. A troubling relationship may invite us to attend to something we have not fully faced in ourselves. Through the wisdom of our bodies, God tells us to slow down or reorder our priorities. The happy coincidences and frustrating impasses of daily life are laden with messages. It is a good habit to ask, 'What is God saying to me in this situation?' Listening to our lives is a part of prayer."

I'll confess that I don't always pay attention. It's easy to move through a day on autopilot — checking things off, putting out fires, falling into bed exhausted. But every so often something stops me. A conversation that goes deeper than expected. A door that closes when I was certain it would open. And in those moments I've learned to ask Thompson's question: what is God saying to me in this? 

It doesn't always yield an immediate answer. But the asking itself is a kind of prayer.  The open door, the closed door, the difficult relationship, the unexpected gift — all of it becomes a conversation with God.

Our prayer today comes from Paul's prayer for the Colossians: Loving God, may we be filled with the knowledge of your will, in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that we might lead lives worthy of you — fully pleasing to you, bearing fruit in every good work. Fill us with the strength that comes from your glorious power, preparing us to endure everything with patience, while joyfully giving thanks. For you have rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of your beloved Son. In his name we pray. Amen.

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Today, I am deeply grateful for those of you who have supported the Dial Hope Foundation with a financial donation. You are a blessing to many!

The famous actor Paul Newman founded many charities, including the Hole in the Wall Gang Camp for children battling cancer, AIDS, and blood diseases. One afternoon, he and his wife Joanne stopped by the camp to have lunch with the kids. A counselor at a nearby table, suspecting the young patients wouldn't recognize a famous movie star, explained, "That's the man who made this camp possible. Maybe you've seen his picture on his salad dressing bottle?" The children were quiet. Blank stares. So the counselor tried again: "Well, you've probably seen his face on his lemonade carton." An eight-year-old girl perked up. "How long was he missing?"

The story made me smile. The truth is, children don't care if you are rich and famous. They only care that you care. And when it comes right down to it, it is the same for all of us, isn't it? The people who matter most in our lives are simply the ones who cared.

Take a moment today and think of one person who made you feel truly cared for. Maybe it was a parent, a teacher, a friend who showed up when you needed them most. Chances are it wasn't their fame or accomplishments that stayed with you. It was simply that they were present. They noticed. They cared. That is a gift worth passing on.

Prayer: Loving God, we pray with the words of the apostle Paul: "Blessed are you, God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Father of all mercies and God of all consolation." Thank you for your mercy and grace, for your love and care, and for the friends and strangers who have been instruments of that care in our lives. Give us open hearts and open hands, that we might be a blessing to them, to you, and to this world you love so much. Amen.

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In the Gospel of Mark (4:26-34), Jesus tells the crowds that the kingdom of God is like a seed scattered on the ground — and it grows on its own. In fact, it is like a tiny mustard seed: small, but once started, it has a way of taking over everything else. Like kudzu — small, but unstoppable.

What's clear in this series of parables is that the results are beyond our control. If a seed grows at all, it grows on its own timetable. You can't force it. Sometimes people will respond, sometimes they won't. Sometimes we'll see the fruit of our work — but sometimes we won't. Like the sower, our job is to keep sowing. Keep throwing those seeds out, trusting that God is at work even in the little things. Because you never know.

I was recently reading about a food drive at a school in rural Appalachia. A volunteer sorting through donated food reached into a box of cans and pulled out a little brown paper bag. Out of it fell a peanut butter sandwich, an apple, and a cookie — items that weren't on the suggested list. Crayoned in large letters was a little girl's name: "Christy, Room 104." While at school, Christy had felt moved to give up her own lunch for someone who was truly hungry.

When the story got out, donations to that food drive skyrocketed. One small act of love by a child inspired countless others.

Archbishop and twentieth-century martyr Oscar Romero once wrote:

This is what we are about: We plant seeds that one day will grow. We water seeds already planted, knowing that they hold future promise. We lay foundations that will need further development. We provide yeast that produces effects beyond our capabilities. We cannot do everything, and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that. This enables us to do something, and to do it very well. It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning — a step along the way, an opportunity for God's grace to enter and do the rest.

Prayer: Loving God, we don't often see the results of our small actions. But we pray today that you would take whatever we have to offer — bless and multiply every dollar given, every hour volunteered, every sacrifice made. May these be seeds of your eternal kingdom. In Christ's name. Amen.

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

Today I want to focus on this passage from Galatians 2:20: “It is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me.”

Helen Keller dedicated one of her books with these words: "To Anne Sullivan, whose love is the story of my life." How many of us could say something like that — naming the person whose love made the greatest difference in our lives?

The truth is, someone's love is the story of every life that finds itself on the path God intended. And how many might say the same of Jesus Christ — that his love is the story of their lives. No day passes that they do not give thanks for the one who loved them and gave himself for them. Christ's love is the story of the best we have ever been or done.

Prayer: Compassionate God, thank you for your unconditional love — for the gift of your Son, Jesus, who has made all the difference. Help us today to make a difference by leaving heart prints of love, gentle kindness, and hope. Touch us. Heal us. Transform our sadness and grief into joy. In Jesus' name. Amen.

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