WATCHWORD:
8 Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.” 9 Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. 11 Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves. 12 Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. 13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it. John 14:8-14
Meditation:
The Prayer I
The popular song The Prayer is a parable of faith, belief and trust in the Lord:
THE PRAYER
I pray you’ll be our eyes
And watch us where we go
And help us to be wise
In times when we don’t know
Let this be our prayer
When we lose our way
Lead us to a place
Guide us with your grace
To a place where we’ll be safe.
True or False? You stand at the open hatch of the of the Cirrus SR20. You packed your own parachute, under the watchful eye of your instructor, and you are ready for your first solo jump. You are confident, but your mouth is dry and your heart is beating loud enough to be heard over the roar of the engines. The wind buffets you, standing on the threshold, looking down at farmlands nearly 14,000 feet below.
You wait for the tap on your shoulder, then, without another thought, launch yourself out into the void. You follow instructions, and throw your arms and legs out, spread Eagle, to slow your descent, you let out a cry of joy and excitement; “You’re doing it!”
For perhaps 40 seconds you free fall, with the breathtaking view below, the air rushing by, you enjoy the ride, then your focus shifts to the altimeter, waiting for that magic number of 4,500 feet to click, when you must deploy the chute.
It’s time. You reach for the ring that would release the pilot chute. The ring comes off in your hand! Your decent continues, but the first edges of panic sneak in. An anxious thought or prayer, dear God, what do I do? Then, you hear the words of your instructor, or God himself, telling you to deploy the safety release. You find it, pull it, and just above your head you hear a snap, the little chute pops out and inflates, spilling out your full parachute, and in a moment, you are jerked upright and your descent slows, as does your heart rate, and you glide with the wind! Safe! Thank you, Lord. True? No, just a fantasy.
True or False? You take the grandkids to the amusement park, to the highest, steepest, the most thrilling roller coaster in their world. Your kids are excited, but you’re not sure. Your wife sits on the bench outside and watches, a smile on her face. But you walk up, a good grandpa, hand tickets over, you’re seated and belted in. The kids are now more excited because we are in that first car, and you are definitely not so sure. You put on a good face and as the car ascends the steep grade. Excitement builds with the kids, and then, as it reaches the top of that hill, and teeters at the crest, you stare down the tracks, far, far below. Your heart is suddenly beating frantically as your car hurdles straight down. You reach across to hold the kids in place, and you hear their screams of joy, mixing with your own scream of terror! The car bottoms out, slows and smoothly starts a new climb, as you say a little prayer, thank you, Lord. You turn to your kids with a brave, false smile. They tell you that was so much fun, but you are not so sure. True? Yes, a memory.
We all have these moments during the course of our lives when we are vulnerable. We don’t know what’s next and we worry and we fret. In time, we turn to our Higher Power, and symbolically, we pull the release for our pilot chute: “God, I need help for me!” and His grace, and our faith, responds.
When we lose our way
Lead us to a place
Guide us with your grace
To a place where we’ll be safe.
An experience I share with many of you: Medical emergency, in an ambulance, taking you to the hospital. For me, once in Belgium and twice here at home, and each time, I was frantically pulling the release on the pilot chute , “Our Father, which art in Heaven…” Come to think of it, it doesn’t take a medical issue to bring us to that point, for each one of us to call upon God who is watching over us. Times when we are uncertain, confused, disappointed, angry, lost. Our cry goes out and our Pilot answers.
The foundation of our faith is that Jesus is there, within the Holy Spirit that resides in our being. It is right and fitting that when uncertainty grips us, we would call on Him, knowing that He is true, and in His arms we will be safe.
Just like every child,
Needs to find a place
Guide us with your grace.
Give us faith so we’ll be safe.
Amen.
Teaser #1:
Hint: You are in a boat on Lake Wawasee, and a stranger walks on the water from the shore and climbs into your boat. What would you think? Ponder that. Announcement coming soon. — Stan
Merton’s Morning Prayer:
My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you.
And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road, though I may know nothing about it.
Therefore, will I trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone. Amen.
