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

On turnpikes, interstates, and some city streets, the sign "No U-Turn" is frequently seen. Of course, it is a good thing to forbid U-turns, for they would badly slow up traffic and cause accidents. But in life, a U-turn is often the best thing in the world. For it means a right-about-face, a turning around from the way one is going, and going the other way.

In the Christian life, a vital part of repentance is turning around. In the ninth chapter of Acts, we read that Saul, later known as Paul, made a U-turn on the Damascus Road. Is there any part of your life about which you should make a right-about-face? No one can go back and make a brand-new start. But anyone can start from here and make a brand-new end.

Prayer: Lord, we truly are "passengers on the great cruise ship called life." We are constantly running to the stern, looking to see where we have been, then running to the bow, trying to determine where we are headed. While others may mill around on the decks of life, you have set our course, guiding us by the light of your Son, who overcomes the darkness in our world. May we grow in our commitment to you, in whom we live, move, and have our being, and in whose image we are created. In Jesus' name. Amen.

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Yesterday I shared the story of a young man, addicted to drugs, who found himself weeping on a city street. It became the turning point of his life.

Amy, who heard the story from him, said it was hard to picture. He's a big guy. Looks kind of tough.

A lot of us were taught that tears are a sign of weakness. Maybe even a lack of faith. Big boys don't cry. Keep your chin up. Be strong.

But the Bible is full of tears.

Abraham wept. Hagar wept. Joseph wept. Hannah wept. Jonathan and David wept. Jeremiah wept. By the rivers of Babylon, the people of Israel sat down and wept. Peter wept. Mary wept. Paul wept, and was wept over.

And Jesus wept.

These aren't people whose faith failed them. These are the people of faith. Tears aren't the opposite of faith. They're part of it.

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. 

Prayer: God of grace, you know every tear we shed. When we weep, hold us close. When others weep, give us the courage to weep with them. And through it all, fill us with the hope of your promise to make all things new. Amen.

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My friend Amy Camp once met a man while traveling in South Africa. He was in recovery, and he told her his story.

As a young man, he had moved to New York City. He came from a good family back home. But somehow he got addicted to crack cocaine. He ended up living in a crack house. He wasn't sleeping. He had become extremely paranoid. And one day he found himself standing on a sidewalk… weeping.

Amy said he's a big guy. Looks kind of tough. It was hard for her to picture him crying on a city street.

But here's what he told her: "I was sobbing and shaking, and a little boy came up to me and asked what was wrong. And I said, 'Nobody loves me. Nobody loves me. Nobody loves me.' The boy looked at me and said, 'Jesus loves you.' And it just hit me."

And somehow, the two of them started singing together: "Jesus loves me, this I know…"

"That moment changed my life," he told Amy. "I wanted more than ever to get sober. So I called my brother in Johannesburg, and he sent me a ticket home."

That little boy didn't have a program to offer. He didn't have answers. He didn't try to fix anything. He noticed a grown man crying on the sidewalk… and he stopped. And he said the truest thing he knew.

Jesus once prayed, "I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants." (Matthew 11:25)

Most of us walk past a lot of tears. And when we do stop, we worry we won't know what to say.

Maybe the words don't have to be profound. Maybe they only have to be true.

Prayer: Thank you, O God, for sending the right people into our lives at the right times. Use us in the same way for others. Give us eyes to notice the tears around us, the courage to stop, and simple words that heal. Amen.

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

It is no secret that I have a passion for encouraging people to base their lives on gratitude. Paul put it like this, "Give thanks in all circumstances." (1 Thessalonians 5:18a).

Let me point out that Paul didn't say to give thanks 'for" all circumstances. Obviously, we don't give thanks for cancer or heart attacks, arthritis or blindness, Alzheimer's or terrorist attacks. But we can give thanks "in" all circumstances because God is with us, come what may. And when we realize that and embrace that, and reach out to God in faith, he will give us strength and see us through. We can count on that. And that is cause for great thanksgiving. 

There is an old legend that tells about a man who came one day to the barn where Satan stores the seeds that he scatters across the earth. The man noticed that the two most abundant seeds in the barn were the seeds of bitterness and discouragement. He asked Satan about those seeds. "Oh, yes," came the reply, "bitterness and discouragement; they are, without question, my most effective seeds. Why these seeds will grow almost anywhere." 

Then, with a solemn look on his face, Satan said, "However, there is one place where the seeds of bitterness and discouragement will not grow." "Oh?" said the man, "and where is that?" Satan answered, "They will not grow in a heart of gratitude." 

Let us pray: God of love, we come to you with hearts full of love, souls full of trust, and minds full of thanksgiving. Your lovingkindness is as far-reaching as the stars, your care for us as deep as the sea. Help us to turn with childlike trust. Open our eyes to the wonders of Your Word and send us on our way with hope and courage. Watch over those traveling. Teach us that we never journey beyond your loving-care. Through the amazing grace of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Lower the Bucket

There's an old story, probably not a true story, but a great story, about a photographer sent to shoot a forest fire. A small plane would be waiting at the airstrip. He got there an hour before sundown. A little Cessna sat on the runway. He jumped in with his gear and shouted, "Let's go!"

The pilot looked tense. The takeoff was shaky. The flying was worse. But the photographer didn't notice. He was busy looking at the smoke.

"Take us over the north side," he said. "Make a few low passes."

Looking at the smoke and blazing fire, the nervous pilot exclaimed, “Are you sure? Why would you want me to do that?"

"Because I'm a photographer! Photographers take pictures!"

Long pause. "You mean… you're not the flight instructor?"

…

Most of us have had a moment like that. A moment when we looked around and realized nobody at the controls really knew how to fly. A diagnosis. A marriage in trouble. A child in crisis.

Where do you turn?

The poet and philosopher John O’Donahue once said, “…for parenting, for relationships, and for work, to have access to a religious tradition is a huge, strengthening, critical resource…” He went on to say, “It is not that our tradition doesn't have dark passages in it, but there are also zones of great light and immense wells of refreshment and healing.”

Wells. The prophet Isaiah reached for the same image: "With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation." (Isaiah 12:3)

But a well does you no good from a distance. You have to lower the bucket. O'Donohue called it a vigorous, relentless conversation with your own tradition. Praying the psalms. Wrestling with the hard passages instead of skipping them. Showing up among God's people when it would be easier to stay home.

That kind of drawing keeps us from becoming ingrown and bitter… or cynical and hard. It keeps us from losing our bearings.

When we don't know where to turn, perhaps the invitation is simply this: lower the bucket. Draw deeply. And trust that the well is still there.

Prayer: Loving God, when we lose our bearings, when no one seems to be at the controls, be our guide. Draw us back to the deep wells of your grace. Keep us from growing bitter or hard. Keep us open. Give us a thirst to know you more deeply and love you more fully. Amen.

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