John 17: 1-11 (links validated 5/4/23)
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Jesus Prays for Us
According to a Native American legend, one day there was a big fire in the forest. All the animals fled in terror in all directions, because it was a very violent fire. Suddenly, the cougar saw a hummingbird pass over his head, but in the opposite direction. The cougar was astonished that the hummingbird flew toward the fire! Cougar did not stop running away. Moments later, the cougar saw the hummingbird pass again, this time in the same direction as the cougar was running. He observed this coming and going, until he decided to ask the bird about it, because it seemed very bizarre behaviour. "What are you doing, hummingbird?" he asked. "I am going to the lake," he answered, "I drink water with my beak and throw it on the fire to extinguish it." The cougar laughed. 'Are you crazy? Do you really think that you can put out that big fire on your own with your very small beak?' 'No,' said the hummingbird, 'I know I can't. But the forest is my home. It feeds me, it shelters me and my family. I am very grateful for that. And I help the forest grow by pollinating its flowers. I am part of her and the forest is part of me. I know I can't put out the fire, but I must do my part.' At that moment, the forest spirits, who listened to the hummingbird, were moved by the tiny bird and its devotion to the forest. And they sent a torrential downpour, which put an end to the great fire. The Native American grandmothers would occasionally tell this story to their grandchildren, then conclude with, "If you want to attract miracles into your life, do your part."...Easter 7A (2023)
one of the occupational hazards of being a doctor is that from time to time, you are called upon in an emergency. It never comes at a good time, but the very worst time this ever happened to me was about twenty-five years ago. I was standing on a platform in the Heathrow airport underground station waiting for a train. I had just come back from America and I was horribly jet-lagged; I’d been up all night; my watch thought it was 7am in London; my body was pretty sure it was two in the morning in New York and, the only thing I wanted to achieve in the rest of my life was to get home, go to bed and go to sleep. Just then, as I was waiting, a young, rather well-dressed man in front of me just suddenly fell to the ground. And he didn’t get up. So I went to look at him. He was unconscious; blue, not breathing, no pulse. It was obvious that he had had a cardiac arrest - his heart had stopped. So I began to try to resuscitate him. You know, just like you’ve seen on Casualty, with mouth to mouth breathing and chest compressions. Now, resuscitating someone is an awful lot easier if there are two of you doing it. So I looked around to see if anybody was going to give me a hand. I reckon there must have been two-to-three hundred people on that platform. And every single one of them had taken a sudden interest in the advertisements pasted up on the other side of the tracks. Nobody wanted to know. Nobody wanted to help. I tried calling to some of them, but they couldn’t hear me. So I carried on doing my best on my own. It is the most lonely I have ever felt. Now, the golden rule of this sort of resuscitation is that no matter what - come hell or high water - you just have to keep on trying for at least twenty minutes before you give up. Within that twenty minutes the person has a chance. So you can’t give up on his chance. And in that twenty minutes, several trains came and went. And, because it was the rush hour, the trains were packed. So, hundreds, maybe thousands of people were walking up and down the platform. Not one of them stopped. Nobody that I saw even looked to see what was going on. Quite a lot of people stepped over him. One woman - I remember - stepped on him. After twenty minutes, he was still unconscious, he was still blue, he had no pulse; he was still not breathing; he was dead. There was nothing more I could do except wait for the ambulance and the Police to come and take him away...
Recommended Resources
Kermit Alexander
Moving story of the football player whose infamous hit knocked Gale Sayers out of professional football and whose life combined a mixture of glory and tragedy.Jesus' Priestly Prayer
("During World War II, Nazi forces led by Colonel Herman Kappler occupied the city of Rome. Kappler was renowned for his brutality. All of Rome, but especially the Roman Jews, lived in terror of him and his soldiers. One of Kappler's greatest enemies was an Irish priest working in the Vatican, Monsignor Hugh O'Flaherty. Monsignor O'Flaherty was a fearless member of the underground resistance in Rome..." and other illustrations)Glory and Suffering
Jackie Robinson made history when he became the first black baseball player to break into the major leagues by joining the Brooklyn Dodgers. Branch Rickey, owner of the Dodgers at that time, told Robinson, "It'll be tough. You're going to take abuse you never dreamed of. But if you're willing to try, I'll back you all the way." And Rickey was right. Jackie was abused verbally (not to mention physically by runners coming into second base). Racial slurs from the crowd and members of his own team, as well as from opponents, were standard fare.Illustrations, Quotes and Reflections (Easter 7A)
("In a scene from Shadowlands, a film based on the life of C.S. Lewis, Lewis has returned to Oxford from London, where he has just been married to Joy Gresham, an American woman, in a private Episcopal ceremony performed at her hospital bedside. She is dying from cancer, and, through the struggle with her illness, she and Lewis have been discovering the depth of their love for each other..." and several more)
Illustrated Resources from 2020 to 2022
Being Persons of Prayer in a Pandemic
It was in 1974 that my prayer life was to hit a crisis point. After being married at Dayspring, and then parenting as a young mother, our first child, Jenny, lay dying in the hospital after surgery for a malignant brain tumor. She had been quickly diagnosed, operated on, and her prognosis was not good. I cried out, I pleaded, I implored God for her life. It was not to be and on October 12th Jenny died. Where was God in all of this? God seemed very silent, at least to me. However, God was not silent. At the time, Elizabeth O’Connor, scribe for the early church, wrote in her book, The New Community how the prayers of the community for Doug, for myself, and for Jenny brought everyone in the community closer to each other. Elizabeth described that as a community, members “waited, prayed together, shared our hopes and our fears, looked once more at our own deaths, and fought for the healing of a child, we moved into a oneness in Christ.”...Easter 7A (2020)
A story that has captured my imagination about completing the work God has given me to do comes from the 1968 Mexico City Olympics. In 1968 the last race was the marathon. As the last runners were crossing the finishing line, there was word that one more runner was still struggling to finish. No one left the stadium. John-Stephen Akhwari of Tanzania had been injured during the race, but he continued to run in spite of incredible pain. He hobbled the last lap around the stadium and stumbled across the finish line. The stadium went berserk and applauded him as if he had won. He was later asked, “Why didn’t you quit?” He answered, “My country did not send me 5,000 miles to start the race. They sent me 5,000 miles to finish the race.”[1] Was he a failure because he was injured and finished last?! Absolutely not. He succeeded because he did not give up...Sermon Starters (Easter 7A)(2020)
In John 17 Jesus prays to the Father to protect his people, to be in and with and for his people. But often we in the church forget that all the energy and love of the Father is with us, is inside us. Have you ever seen a Hoberman Sphere? A scientist by the name of Hoberman figured out how to make an amazing thing called an “icosadodecohedron.” It is a round ball made up of hundreds of rods, each one of which is multi-jointed to others. Some years ago at the Liberty Science Center in New Jersey, my family and I saw a giant one of these in the museum’s great hall. When that particular Hoberman Sphere is fully expanded, it is a ball that spans probably thirty or more feet in diameter–it’s quite huge. But when it is compacted and all the parts of the sphere are collapsed in on each other, the whole thing shrinks down to something not much bigger than a giant beach ball.Painful Goodbyes and the Ascension
I was 22 years old when in the space of four months both of my parents, still young, died. For my siblings and me the pain was searing. Initially we were nearly overwhelmed with a sense of being orphaned, abandoned, of losing a vital life-connection (that, ironically, we had mostly taken for granted until then). And our feelings were mainly cold. There’s little that’s warm in death. But time is a great healer. After a while, and for me this took several years, the coldness disappeared and my parents’ deaths were no longer a painful thing. I felt again their presence, now as a warm, nurturing spirit that was with me all time. The coldness of death turned into warmth. They had gone away but now they could give me their love and blessing in a way that they never could fully while they were alive. Their going away eventually created a deeper and purer presence...That They May Be One
In his beautiful book entitled, Tokens of Trust, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, describes the strangeness and wonder of a Jesus who prays: “Yes, Jesus is a human being in whom God’s action is at work without interruption or impediment. But wait a moment: the Jesus we meet in the Gospels is someone who prays, who speaks of putting his will and his decisions at the service of his Father. He is someone who is in a relationship of dependence on the one he prays to as Father. In him there is divine purpose, power, and action; but there is also humility, responsiveness, and receptivity.”...
Illustrated Resources from 2014 to 2019
Journey to Hope (Week 7)
(" I'd like to tell you now about someone who did that, who kept his humor in the middle of persecution. He was a young Jesuit named Miguel Pro. Miguel was one of those people born with a happy disposition. When he entered the seminary, he became popular for his lively humor. Because of government persecution, however, he was forced to study outside Mexico...")Eternity Lived
("Mahatma Gandhi wrote, 'I discovered that after a time of prayer, I was able to do a far greater amount of work. A doctor has testified as a medical fact that my blood pressure was lowered by it, my nerves calmer, my mind rested and alert, my whole body in better health. I was refreshed and ready for work. ...")Bittersweet Moments
Working in Campus Ministry, this is always an exciting time of year. This past Thursday we celebrated Commencement for the more than 5,000 graduates of Montclair State University. The build up over the last few weeks with all kinds of celebrations; awards dinners... even seeing graduates taking pictures with friends and family members all around campus - you definitely felt that excitement in the air. But I have to confess that there’s something amazingly bittersweet about this time of year that I never really appreciated when I was the one graduating all those years ago. I don’t know if this is true for everyone else, but it seemed that when I was the one donning the cap and gown, I kept seeing graduation as that finish line and the requirement to help launch into whatever that next big adventure is going to be...Easter 7A (2014)
("Most of the children in my neighborhood are called home for suppers by their mothers. They open the backdoors; wipe their hands on their aprons and yell, "Willie!" or "Joe!" or "Ray!" Either that or they use a bell, bolted to the doorframe and loud enough to start the dogs barking in backyards all along the street. But I was always called home by my father, and he didn't do it in the customary way...")Positively Maladjusted
Thirty years ago last month, in April 1987, I interviewed the French sociologist Jacques Ellul (1912–1994) in his home in Bordeaux. Like King, Ellul spent a lot of time thinking about how we engage the world without mimicking the world. When I asked Ellul what had given him the most satisfaction in fifty years of scholarship and witness, he didn't hesitate. It was his work with the street gangs in the 1950s, the goal of which wasn't to integrate marginalized teenagers into mainstream society, but to help them to be "positively rather than negatively maladjusted to the world."Jesus Didn't Say "Beam Me Up"
("Recently a woman called her church office in distress because her husband had just received a bad diagnosis. She did not know what to do. As she talked with her pastor, her voice became calmer and she began to voice her fear about what might happen. Then she said, 'Will the church pray for us?' 'Of course,' her pastor replied, 'and I am praying for you both right now.' 'I know,' she said. 'I can feel it.'...")Contemplation and Oneness
There is a story about Mahatma Gandhi that fits my experience the past several weeks. A mother brought her young son to Gandhi because she knew he was a loving, helpful man, and because her son looked up to him. “I’ve tried to tell my son,” she told Gandhi, “that he eats too much sugar. It’s not good for him. Can you please tell him not to eat so much sugar?” He thought for a moment and told her, “Bring him back in two weeks, and I will have an answer for him.” The mother was a bit surprised. Why would waiting a couple weeks make a difference for something so simple. But she did what he asked, and brought him back. Gandhi’s response was the same: “Bring him back in two weeks, and I will have an answer for him.” Again, she brought him back, and again he asked for two more weeks. Finally, on the fourth try, Gandhi stooped down to address the boy. “You should stop eating so much sugar. It’s not good for you.” What?! Now the mother was a bit angry. “Why couldn’t you have told him that the first time we came to you?!” “Because,” said Gandhi, “I needed time myself to stop eating so much sugar. It was harder than I thought. I couldn’t ask your son to do something I’m not willing to do myself.”...Everything That Rises Must Converge
(". Flannery O'Connor, writer of stories of grace and the Spirit, took Teihard's rule as the title for a book of short stories, and for one story in particular, a tale in which a mother and her grown son, he a struggling college graduate with enlightened sensibilities and she a believing woman of old fashioned prejudices who wants to take a yoga class and asks him to accompany her on the trip because of her racial fears...")A Prayer for Persecuted Christians Everywhere
("In elementary school we all learned the ditty: 'In fourteen hundred and ninety-two, Columbus sailed the ocean blue'. Convinced by Christopher Columbus that a new, faster route to the rich spice regions of India could be found by sailing east instead of south, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain financed an exploratory mission for this new route. Instead of India, Columbus found the New World...")Sent Into the World
("In June of 1944, a young man named John Eddington wrote a letter from an army base in Texas to his daughter who had just been born. Shortly after he wrote this letter, he was deployed to Italy to fi ght in World War II and was killed. He forgot to send the letter he had written. Seventy years later, a woman in St. Louis was cleaning out the house of her husband's grandparents...")A Time of Waiting
John Westerhoff of Duke University in his addresses often told the Sufi story of a man named Nostradam who for years went across the border with his donkey drawn cart full of hay. The border patrol knew he was smuggling something. They would stop him and search his cart. Sometimes they would even burn his hay, but they never found anything...
Illustrated Resources from 2008 to 2013
Easter 7A (2008)
("Have you ever seen one of those Hoberman Spheres? A scientist by the name of Hoberman figured out how to make an amazing thing called an 'icosadodecohedron'. It is a round ball made up of hundreds of rods, each one of which is multi-jointed to others...")Easter 7A (2011)
("In John 17 Jesus prays to the Father to protect his people, to be in and with and for his people. But often we in the church forget that all the energy and love of the Father is with us, is inside us. Have you ever seen one of those Hoberman Spheres? A scientist by the name of Hoberman figured out how to make an amazing thing called an 'icosadodecohedron'...")Into the Arms and Womb of God
I am also reminded of the creative work of Miriam Therese Winter, a Catholic sister and theologian. Her continuing invitation to us all is to consider the feminine image of God. Not in some cheap Hallmark Mother’s Day card theology, but addressing God in relational ways. In one of her many reflections she offers this: The God of history, The God of the Bible. is One who carries us in Her arms after carrying us in Her womb, breastfeeds us, nurtures us, teaches us how to walk, teaches us how to soar upward just as the eagle teaches its young to stretch their wings and fly, makes fruitful, brings to birth, clothes the lilies of the field, clothes Eve and Adam with garments newmade, clothes you and me with skin and flesh and a whole new level of meaning with the putting on of Christ..Held Up in Prayer
("Patsy Clairmont tells a story about her youngest son Jason. One fall morning, Jason was sent out to catch the bus. A few moments later, he was back at the door, his back pack and lunch box dragging the ground...")Like a Roaring Lion
("One of my favorite comic strips was Calvin and Hobbes, the adventures of a 6-year old rascal boy and his stuffed tiger. Of course, in Calvin's vivid imagination, Hobbes the tiger was alive. One Calvin and Hobbes strip I remember showed Calvin arriving home from school, stealthily sneaking up to his own front door and cautiously cracking it open...")Easter 7A (2008)
("There are two types of people in the world, they say – those who think there are two types of people in the world and those that don't. Or, as Woody Allen put it, "There are two types of people in this world, good and bad. The good sleep better, but the bad seem to enjoy their waking hours much more...")Easter 7A (2008)
("I was reminded, yesterday, of the work of a Japanese novelist, Shusaku Endo, particularly of his book called Silence. He talked about how Jesus must have seemed ineffectual to so many of His own time, and how the disciples must have had to struggle to come to terms with that label..." and other illustrations)Be Generous
Chances are that you’ve seen the TV show ER at least once in its fourteen years. It holds the record for Emmy nominations with 117. Ellen and I and the older boys were regular watchers for the first nine or ten years. I forget that a star such as George Clooney launched his movie career with that show. It’s as so many of the original characters left that I gradually quit watching. In fact, I bring it up because I know that the frequency of my watching began to decrease dramatically six years ago this month when one of its original characters, Dr. Mark Green, said goodbye. You might remember, if you were a fan, that he died of brain cancer and so his leaving was particularly said. He had a fairly recent second wife, by whom he had a baby daughter. It was no doubt very difficult to leave them and to say goodbye. Yet it was perhaps even tougher to say goodbye to his teenage daughter by his first wife. For Rachel was already a teenager in distress, flirting with drug use and other dangerous behaviors. He wondered if he could say anything to her that might leave a lasting impression for the good. ‘I’m struggling,’ he said to her, ‘to find some last words to say to you, the very best that a Dad could leave with his daughter.’ Finally, he simply said to her, “Be generous.”...The Mission
("A Congressman died and went to heaven. 'Welcome,' said St. Peter, 'here's how it works. You'll spend one day in hell and one day in heaven, then you have to choose where you want to spend eternity'..." and other illustrations)One with God
("A young soldier fighting in Italy during WWII managed to jump into a foxhole just ahead of a spray of bullets. He immediately attempted to deepen the hole for more protection. As he was frantically scraping at the dirt with his hands, he unearthed a silver crucifix...")Here and Now Unity
("A recent movie starring Ryan Gosling titled Lars and the Real Girl is a kind of parable that helps us understand this problem. Lars is a recluse who lives in his brother's garage and doesn't want much to do with anyone...")Unity
("A man wanted to find direction and meaning to life. He was told to go and visit a hermit high in the mountains. After climbing to the home of the hermit, he was given a flask and told to go fill it in the stream and through that action his life would have a sense of direction and purpose...." and other illustrations)
Illustrated Resources from the Archives
Long Division
("J. R. R. Tolkien's book The Fellowship of the Ring includes an evocative scene that failed to make it into the movie. The eight who accompany the ring bearer on his journey are men, hobbits, dwarves and elves...")Jesus: Servant and Lord
("Stormy, husky, brawling, City of big shoulders. That is how Carl Sandburg once described an earlier Chicago. Some people will undoubtedly point out that we continue to live up to this reputation earned in the past...")Give God the Glory
("The late professor Raymond Brown in his commentary on the Gospel of John offers a perceptive insight into the word glory. He says if you look at John's Gospel, for example, the book divides neatly into two sections. Part I he calls 'The Book of Signs'. The second part Brown calls 'The Book of Glory'. For beginning at chapter 12 Jesus begins to speak of glory...)The Last Words of Jesus
("The story is told of a man who was called to the witness stand in a local court case. The lawyer was questioning the man about the events surrounding the crime... What time was it? Who were you with? Where were you going? The questions went on and on and finally the lawyer asked... 'did you see the accused enter the store...?'...")Living in the Time Between
("A Russian psychologist by the name of Pavlov who pioneered in the techniques of conditioning did experiments with dogs...")Easter 7A (2005)
("Powerless people do a lot of waiting. One of the ways that powerful people show their power over others is to make them wait. I remember how the technique was used in the U.S. Army, and how demeaning it was to me as a draftee...")Easter 7A (2005)
("Once upon a time a great coach was retiring. He and his teams had won many championships. He was very proud of them and they very proud of him. He knew that it was time for him to pull back from the daily grind of practices and the frequent strain and tension of the games...")Easter 7A (1999)
("Once upon a time a soldier who had been missing in action and presumed dead was finally released and came home. He was sure his wife and children had forgotten about him, so long had he been presumed dead...")Easter 7A (2002)
("In Shakespeare's Macbeth, when the character Macbeth has heard that the queen is dead and he knows his own death is imminent, he delivers his famous soliloquy: 'Tomorrow, and tomorrow and tomorrow creeps in this petty pace from day to day, To the last syllable of recorded time...")We Are One
("As pastor of the Matthews Murkland Presbyterian Church in Charlotte, North Carolina, one of the churches victimized by the rash of Church burnings in the last several years, we experienced the effects of the prayer of Jesus in a very special way...")Pure Paradise
("In her book The Secret Life of Dust, Holmes tracks the enormous dust streams that pour across from Saharan Africa, fertilizing South American rain forests, and that carry the Gobi, particle by particle, across the Pacific Northwest..." and other illustrations)In the World
("Can you remember the day you took your first child to Kindergarten? Amazing day wasn't it? The feelings are really mixed. Here's your 'baby' leaving the security and comfort of home for the great big world out there....")Picking Up Where Jesus Left Off
("The great Italian composer Giacomo Puccini wrote a number of famous operas. Among them were La Boheme and Madame Butterfly. In 1922, the 64 year old composer was stricken with cancer. In spite of the disease which ravaged his body Puccini was determined to complete his opera Turandot which many people now consider his best...")United in Witness
When Steve and Jan moved into their new home in a new neighborhood, it seemed like a dream come true. The surrounding houses were simply beautiful – each one was unique. The realtor told them that other young families lived in that suburban development. Obviously they all had money to spare if they lived in such a lovely neighborhood. Steve and Jan were delighted, almost bragging to their friends and family about their new home and their new neighborhood. Their street had finely manicured lawns, beautiful flower beds, and expensive cars in the driveways. They were indeed very fortunate to live where they did.The Word From the Other Side of the World
("I remember the sights and sounds of abject poverty, and, in particular, an incredible section of Port au Prince called Cite Soleil - Sun City - a pleasant sounding name but the most UNpleasant sight I have ever seen. I have no idea how big the area is, nor could I tell you how many hundreds of thousands call it 'home'....")Hitchhiker's Guide to the Kingdom
"In one scene from the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, they discover a computer and an old video clip. The leader speaks: 'Seven and a half million years our race has waited for this Great and Hopefully Enlightening Day!—The Day of the Answer!' Hurrahs burst from the ecstatic crowd..."Living in a Hostile World
("A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, an evil legacy long believed dead is stirring. The dark side of the Force threatens to overwhelm the light, and only an ancient prophecy stands between hope and doom for the entire galaxy. In case you don't know, Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace, opens in theatres this week...")What Is Eternal Life?
("Many of you already know the sad news the Milton household received on the 9th of May. Their adopted First Nations child was found dead by the police after he had been missing for most of a week. I would like to read to you part of a letter that Ralph wrote at that time...")Risen Lord Society
I finally saw this past week one of last year’s highly rated movies, Dead Poet’s Society, a very powerful story which I’d like to share with you this morning. It is set in a New England preparatory school, probably sometime in the early 50’s. The students that we come to meet live under the oppressive forces of adults in their lives who do everything thing they can to make these students conform to their world. All the parents and teachers are portrayed as tyrants ruling over their young peoples’ lives. Into this stifling environment steps one adult who is a breath of fresh air to the boys. He is their new English Literature teacher, John Keating, played by Robin Williams. Mr. Keating captures the boys’ imaginations by teaching them in parables, by using vivid images and having them act out some of their lessons. He makes language come alive with power for them. Mr. Keating also provides some of the boys with the seed for a uplifting community in the midst of their prep school drudgery. He hearkens back to his days at Welton School, when he and some classmates would sneak out at night and go to an old Indian cave. There they would each take turns sharing poems that had meaning and power for them. A group of seven of Mr. Keating’s students grab hold of the idea and begin their own “Dead Poet’s Society.” But the new life these boys find in their little club ends in terrible tragedy...Easter 7A (2002)
("Fifteen years ago, I was standing on a platform in the Heathrow underground station waiting for a train. I had just come back from America; I'd been up all night; it was 7am in London but my body thought it was still two in the morning and I just wanted desperately to get home to bed...")The High Priestly Prayer
On the front page of Friday's News and Record there was an article about a woman named Patsy Foster. In the article I learned her son died of a lung disease in October of 1999. As a result of his death she took on a project. She decided to raise $25,000 dollars in memory of her son for the hospital. Her purpose was to help grieving mothers find a way to express their grief after losing a child. Two years later, she reached her goal. On Thursday, she stood in the hospital as they unveiled a plaque in memory of her son and her achievement. Her response as the plaque was unveiled was to gasp, then cry, and then thank God. She witnessed the end of her project with joy, tears, and thanksgiving to God...You Shall Be My Witnesses
("I will never forget my first court room experience. I had been hired by a company as a store manager and part of my job was to represent the company in small claims court as needed. My first "case" was a true eye-opener for me. I knew nothing about legalities...")Salvation Army
("Miriam Booth, daughter of the founder of the , was a brilliant and cultured woman who began her Christian work with great promise and unusual success. Very soon, however, disease brought her to the point of death. A friend told her it seemed a pity that a woman of her capabilities should be hindered by sickness from doing the Lord’s work...")Learning to Talk With God
("Earl Palmer warns the Church to be careful about building its oneness upon several false premises. For example, he argues that mission cannot be the basis of our solidarity. Mission is our task...")The Mind of God
("There was a certain farm family whose mother was very tired from her many years of hard work, helping with the farm chores, as well as raising several children. She needed a vacation, but the family was poor and couldn't afford a real vacation...")Other Sheep
"Pastor Tom Starr told of a conference he attended where John R. Rice gave one of his last messages. He had suffered a heart attack and spoke from a wheelchair. His text was from John 10, “Other sheep have I who are not of this fold.” and he mentioned other believers who might not be precisely aligned theologically, but nonetheless were believers..."So That We May Be One In Christ
("Shortly after the end of the Civil War, in a fashionable Richmond church, members of the congregation were invited to come to the altar to receive Holy Communion. After several rows of worshipers came and left after receiving Communion side by side, a black man walked down the aisle..." and other illustrations)Glimpses of the Glory of God
Robert Raines in his book To Kiss the Joy writes: '...as we rounded the bend in one mountain we came upon a sudden blue lake, with ranges of pyramid pines stretching for miles behind. I was really taken aback...The Power and Intimacy of Prayer
("The great spiritual leader, Mahatma Gandhi, also strongly believed that prayer was necessary for life. Here is what he had to say: "I discovered that after a time of prayer, I was able to do a far greater amount of work...")Fellowship - Eternal Life
("Who Flew the Kite?'......'I did,' said the sticks, 'I did,' said the paper. 'I did," said the boy. 'No, I did,' said the wind...." and other illustrations)
Currently Unavailable
That We May Be One
While I tried to focus on Christ’s call for unity, I listened to my own boys jumping around in the next room and another image from the evening news came to mind. A traumatized Nigerian boy was recounting how his father was murdered by terrorists. This back-country subsistence farmer was confronted by gunmen. They made one demand: Renounce Jesus. Fighting back his fear, the man explained that he could never do that… because if he renounced Jesus, then Jesus could not commend him to the Father. His declaration of faith was cut short by gunfire. Watching the boy’s moving, matter-of-fact presentation I was overcome by a too familiar spectrum of emotions… horror, sorrow, pity… but then inspiration and humble exaltation. There I was, TV-remote in hand, sitting comfortably in my American suburban security. This boy and his martyred father were a world away. We had neither nationality, nor race, language, culture or circumstances in common. And yet I felt profoundly that their loss was my loss.