Calvary Episcopal Church
Memphis, Tennessee
THE CHRONICLE
The Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost
September 3 , 2000
Volume 45, No.30

Praying the Unexpected
Max De Pree, author of Leading Without Power, recounts the story of his severely challenged grandchild learning to run for the first time. He tells his story this way:

Esther and I have eleven grandchildren. One of them, born weeks premature, is now in 3rd grade, and while she has some special challenges, she is really doing quite well. One day, when she was three years old, she came to visit me in my office, which is in a small condominium. She said, "Grandpa, would you like to see me run?" I thought to myself, this little girl can hardly walk. How is she going to run? But, like a good grandparent, I said, "Yes, I'd like to see you run." She walked over to one side of the room and started to run, right across in front of my desk and directly into the side of the refrigerator. It knocked her on her back, and there she lay, spread-eagled on the floor with a big grin on her face. Like any good manager, I immediately went over with a solution. I said, "Honey, you've got to learn to stop." And she looked up at me with a big smile and said, "But, Grandpa, I'm learning to run."

Human potential remains a mystery, and any attempt to explain it through words would seem inadequate. Yet, the mystery of God's redeeming love is made manifest through the gift of human potential. The power of prayer comes alive when we see its authority dwelling in the depths of God's fathomless and indescribable love for His creation. The Christian acknowledges that, indeed, "all things are possible with God." Through prayer, we come to realize that God is glorified through human asking and human frailties.

Like the little child, we learn to run each and every day of life. Sometimes we are given smooth paths and other times, well ... we hit the side of refrigerators. Nevertheless, whether we are running smoothly or on a bumpy road, God continues to create anew. God creates anew in spite of our broken humanity because we believe in the authority of human potential as made evident through the power of prayer. The Christian, out of his or her own humanity comes to fully rely on the grace of God, and it is through that grace that you and I are encouraged to run the race of life despite our shortcomings.

As we run the race of life, we are not to focus on the negatives, but accentuate the positive and gracious gifts God has given each of us. When we realize the power and potential of prayer, truly "all things do become possible with God." The power of prayer and the mercy and grace of God make each and every one of us winners in the race of life.
~ Peace,
Allen F. Robinson+