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

Listen to this profound epitaph found on an English gravestone: "What I kept, I lost. What I spent, I had. What I gave, I have." 

Friend of Dial Hope, as you well know, the art of keeping isn't all bad. There will always be secrets to keep, treasures to store, memories to hold tightly. But some of us keep compulsively; we keep, keep, keep. We are hoarders. Although we keep actual objects, we lose the joy of possession. In spending, we no longer withhold or hide something. 

This epitaph closes by reminding us that when we leave life, we only have what we gave and shared in love and trust. And this is one of life's most difficult lessons to learn. Yet learn it you must, if you want a full life. When our lives come to the end, we will realize that we are the sum of our gifts - gifts of joy, gifts of time, gifts of dissent, gifts of comfort - all our gifts. We are not the sum of our possessions. We are not the sum of our accomplishments. We are finally the sum of our gifts. The persons I most respect are givers and not takers. Let's hear it for generosity and gratitude. 

Let us pray: Extravagant God, you have given the ultimate gift, the gift of your Son, Jesus Christ. We thank you for the gift of friendship with Jesus. Now help us to embrace each day as a gift, something sacred and special; a day to play with children, visit an older person, hug a friend; a day to do something generous and kind. Surprise us now with your joy and grace in unexpected places. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 

‍

In one of his sermons, Rev. King Duncan tells about a boy who was brought to see a child psychologist. The boy had been labeled “incorrigible.” He was moody. At first, he wouldn’t even talk.

His own father said, “This is the only child I’ve ever seen who doesn’t have a single likable trait. Not a single one.”

The psychologist took that as his starting point. He went looking for one thing he could approve of. He found several.

The boy loved to carve, and he was good at it. At home, he’d carved up the furniture, and been punished for it. So the psychologist bought him a set of carving knives and some soft wood. And he didn’t hold back. “You know, Jimmy,” he said, “you can carve things better than anybody I’ve ever known.”

Before long, he found other things to praise. Then one day, Jimmy surprised everyone. He cleaned his room without being asked.

When the psychologist asked him why, Jimmy said, “I thought you would like that.”

Duncan’s point was simple. When people feel accepted, they find the power to change.

That’s the order of grace. Paul wrote, “God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)

Not after we cleaned up our room. While we were still sinners. The acceptance comes first. The change follows.

Prayer: Gracious God, thank you for loving us before we ever changed. Be near today to those who feel discouraged, worn down, or labeled. Give us eyes to see the good in one another, and the courage to say it out loud. Speak your word over each of us today: accepted, forgiven, loved. Through Jesus Christ. Amen.

‍

For years, my friend Jim Campbell and I went to lunch once a month. I always thought of him as the mayor of his retirement community. Big smile. Great sense of humor. Generous, always joking, gently poking fun.

After lunch, we’d visit people in the skilled nursing wing. And Jim always wanted to be the one to pray.

Unless he told you, you’d never know that Jim had outlived his wife. Or that he had buried three of his four children as adults, each lost in a separate tragedy over the course of many years.

He had seen the worst of what life can do. And yet… there was a light in him that tragedy could not touch.

The poet and philosopher John O’Donohue has a name for that light. He calls it a second innocence.

The first innocence belongs to children. It rests on a trust that hasn’t been tested yet. The second can only come later, after you’ve lived deeply. After you’ve seen life’s capacity to disappoint, and sometimes to destroy. And still, somehow, you hope.

O’Donohue writes: “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.”

Paul put it this way: “Even though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day.” (2 Corinthians 4:16)

Jim spent a lifetime practicing the things our faith asks of us. Trust. Generosity. Hope. Forgiveness. Over and over again.

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

I’m still practicing.

Prayer: Be near to those who need you near this day, O God. Deepen our ability to forgive, to trust, and to give, even when everything in us resists. Create in us a second innocence, that we might know your peace and become instruments of it. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

‍

Today, I want to offer something a little different. As I have over the past two days, I want to share with you a guided meditation as our message and prayer. (Tomorrow we’ll return to our more regular style of messages.) When you have the time, I would encourage you to put all three of these messages together, to make one complete prayer.

Today we are going to take this one step further.

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

Recorded only: If you are able to safely close your eyes, I invite you to do that now. Take a couple of deep breaths. Breathe in God’s Spirit, breathe out…

The Apostle Paul once wrote to his young friend and colleague Timothy: “I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for everyone…” (1 Timothy 2:1)

For everyone.

I invite you today to get more than one person in your mind’s eye. Imagine people across the globe… people with no power, perhaps living in the streets, in refugee camps, those in prisons… (pause a few moments) And gather with them people with vast power… who may or may not care… Gather with them people that you love, your family and friends, and with them people no one loves…

And we pray for all God’s children.

Gracious God, just as I wish to be protected, so do they wish to be protected. Just as I wish to be joyful, so do they wish to be joyful… Just as I wish to be healthy, so do they wish to be healthy… Just as I wish to have peace, so do they wish to have peace.

May all these, your children, O God, be protected… May they be joyful… May they be healthy… May they be at peace… (speak to them directly) May you be protected… May you be joyful… May you be healthy… May you be at peace…

We offer you these our prayers today, in all humility and hope, 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 love our enemies and to pray for those who persecute us (Matthew 5:44)… That’s not easy. But when we hold hatred, bitterness, or resentment in our hearts, it is detrimental to our own health, our well-being, and even our souls. We need to learn to let go.

I invite you to read this slowly. Close your eyes as you are able and take the prayer into your heart. Begin by taking a couple of deep breaths. Breathe in God’s Spirit, breathe out. Breathe in God’s Spirit. Breathe 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 fill you with joy… 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 joyful… May you be healthy… May you be at peace…

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

‍