I remember reading a news story a few years back that totally blew my mind. The headline was something like, man Catches Teen Falling From Ride. If there was ever a clickbait titled a click, this was it. What happened is that this man named Matthew Howard was leaving Six Flags in Albany, New York when he heard someone screaming for help.
He looked over and he saw this young girl hanging about 25 feet in the air on a slow moving rollercoaster that had stalled out while she was upside down. Her little brother was in the seat next to her crying in pain from holding his sister as his grip began to slip. Now after seeing this, Howard ran over to the ride, positioned himself right underneath the girl, and then he cried out to her, it’s okay.
It’s okay to let go. I’ll catch you. He held out his hands, the girl let go and he caught her. And what’s amazing is that she was perfectly fine, but Howard on the other hand was hurt. He had to go to the hospital for several days after injuring his back. I really like this story. If there was ever a real life metaphor for what, having faith in God feels like, this is it.
Life is hard. And many times we find ourselves just like this girl. Desperate, struggling and barely hanging on, and all that we can see is the distance that we could fall. But if we listen carefully, there is someone crying out for us, it’s okay to let go. I’ll catch you. That is the gospel. That is God’s love.
In a nutshell. That is the good news of our faith that we can fall, but there is always someone there to catch us. You’ve been listening to Everyday Miracles by Hope, mindfulness and Prayer.
In the year 1818, a 26-year-old Catholic priest by the name of Joseph Moore was preparing for the Christmas Eve service at his church in the Austrian Alps. And while cleaning up the church in preparation, he found out that his organ had broken. This was not good. I mean, here’s this young guy that is probably new to this church.
If you’ve ever gone through art history class, you’re probably familiar with a painting called The Light of the World. It was painted by the British artist Holman Hunt, and hangs in St. Paul’s Cathedral in London. It’s one of the most iconic religious paintings in history. The painting depicts Jesus standing outside of a small, dilapidated cottage.
I was recently listening to the U2 album, all that you Can’t Leave Behind, and I came across a song called Grace. The lyrics say this, grace takes the blame, covers the shame, removes the stain, but once was hurt, but once was friction. What left a mark? No longer stings because grace makes beauty out of ugly things.
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