Life Raft

In Berlin the best place to watch people is in the subway. There it’s called the U-bahn.

When I lived and worked in Berlin, I’d step on the train and watch people jump on and off at each stop. The smell of pretzels and other pastries followed people through the metal doors and onto the train at certain stops. I miss it.

All those people, entering and exiting the train. All those stories. Coming from someplace, going somewhere else.

You look at a person, maybe into their eyes for a second ... an elderly gentleman, a college student ... and what do you really know about them?

This weekend I listened to my friend Richard speak publicly about the abduction of his six-year-old son; and Richard's two-year search until his boy was found.

When Richard told the story of their cheerless reunion, his son’s seeming rejection of him, the continuing difficulties, the hole in Richard's heart, it was hard to hold back tears.

What do we really know about the people we see every day? Many stories unfold hard.

Richard has such a solid, durable faith. It surrounds a fragile heart I think. He loves and clings to Jesus Christ like a man clings to a life raft.

John 3:17 teaches us that Jesus was sent by a loving Father not to condemn the world, but to save it.

What do we know about the people we see everyday? -- They need love, forgiveness, compassion, sometimes they need an endless supply of second chances ...

They need the Man who modeled and embodies all of these things. And, they need us to carry out His work.



. . . Father, thank You for Richard. Thank you for loving us. Thank You for life. Father, we cry out to you in Jesus name to mend broken hearts and broken lives. Command our spirits to never take a stranger for granted. They have a story and are Your children, too. In Jesus name we pray . . .