"Assurance......................."

Tomorrow morning I return to school after ten days of Spring Break, a reunion met with at least some welcome, working with these Special-Ed kids a bit of food to an old man’s existence. It’s approaching one a.m., though, and after only two hours sleep, my mind has me sitting here in my recliner, wide awake with too many thoughts rolling around present events, lives elsewhere who are dealing with questions tonight. People up in Boston still didn’t have any explanations when I went to bed earlier; but, then, answers never supply any remedy to the damage done. Too much too often makes no sense in the first place. Life comes with no guarantees, no warranty, one to a customer, no refunds. All we have is hope, each other and a spiritual umbilical cord, an anchor-line provided in Christ… A young four year-old boy I know in Pittsburgh is lying in an ICU unit tonight, having undergone heart surgery today. His family, I’m sure, is near, his grandfather even closer, no doubt, his unexpected death occurring last Thursday. Over three decades ago my wife and I occupied a similar room here in Cincinnati at Children’s Hospital, our youngest daughter, nine at the time, having been thrown accidently under a two thousand pound hay wagon. There wasn’t much encouragement about her chances. To see her body hooked up to several machines, a maze of tubes keeping vital functions from ceasing all together discouraged faith, the image a reality right in front of us. Something deep inside me, however, said otherwise. Call it what you want; but I am grateful in this moment for a reconnection that came to me way back when there seemed to be no reason for breathing, my whole identity clearly a mess, the journey more than I could handle. Surrender brought more than relief. Grace had substance when it stepped into my abyss back in March of ’72, His presence remaining to meet me again and again in times of need, strength, peace, love all in an inner well yet available now. Prayer is more than words……