A Sacrifice Of Thanksgiving
Stories
Object:
Contents
What's Up This Week
"A Sacrifice of Thanksgiving" by John Smylie
"Favor with God" by John Sumwalt
"A Stronger Foundation" by Peter Andrew Smith
What's Up This Week
We often presume that the bedrock foundations that we build our lives upon are unshakeable -- but as this week's edition of StoryShare reminds us, life has a way of unexpectedly disrupting all the "best-laid plans of mice and men." John Smylie investigates the biblical figure of Hannah, who built her very identity upon her dreams of bearing children… only to experience increasing frustration. Likewise, Peter Andrew Smith tells a tale of a man who as the result of an accident lost much of the life he had worked hard to build. But in each case, out of that shattering experience came unexpected blessings -- for Hannah, God finally granted her a son, whom she returns to the service of the Lord as a sign of her thanksgiving; while the man in Smith's story discovers a much stronger foundation for his life as he reconnects with himself and his family. Meanwhile, John Sumwalt tells a story that shows the great blessings for society that can emerge even from the great suffering of physical maladies.
* * * * * * * * *
A Sacrifice of Thanksgiving
by John Smylie
1 Samuel 1:4-20
When Hannah was a little girl she dreamed of having a big family. Like the 12 tribes of Israel, she always wanted to have 12 children. In her culture boys were favored, but in her heart she hoped to have as many girls as she had boys -- six of each would've been just right. When she wasn't helping her mother with household chores she would wander in the countryside and dream of what it would be like to be a mother. She thought of the names that she should give her children, and she wondered who her husband would be. She was confident that he would love her, confident perhaps because she grew up in a family where she was loved and valued and cherished.
Like most of the girls of her village, she was married at a very young age. Right after she reached her first menstrual period, she was betrothed to the man whom she would give herself to. He was a good man, kind -- and his love for her was more than an obligation; his love for her was genuine and his generosity was always overwhelming to her. She felt very blessed. They dreamed together of the children they would have; she shared with him the names that she hoped he would agree to give them, and they prayed that the Lord would guide and bless them both and their family.
But as the days of their marriage lengthened, Hannah's hopes darkened. She wondered why she could not conceive and bear a child, what had she done, how had she displeased her Lord. Had she not been cheerful; had she not been faithful; had she offended the Lord in some way that she didn't know? She racked her mind but could find no reason for her barrenness, and when she was able she would wander into the countryside and weep as she remembered the dreams that she had as a child, dreams that were fading. She tried to remember her dreams of children, of laughter, and of the sweet chaos that fills the rooms of families. She dreaded returning from the open fields back to her empty tent, for her room was barren, her hopes were dashed -- and even though her husband continued to bless her with his presence, with his kindness, and with his favor, she knew she was a disappointment and a failure.
She knew the story of Abraham and Sarah. She looked out from her tent every day hoping that visitors would arrive. She hoped that angels from heaven would come to her and open her womb so that she could bear a child. All these hopes and dreams she kept to herself. She was afraid that her husband would stop loving her, even though that fear was not rational because she could see how he lavished her with his attention and with blessings.
When one's identity is tied up with performance -- and in Hannah's case that performance was motherhood -- when one can't perform the expected task, one feels inadequate… lost… purposeless… a failure. In Hannah's case, what was necessary for her to feel good about her identity was to conceive and bear children. To be barren for her was to be cursed -- and yet she knew she was not cursed and that her God was real, powerful, and alive, even though her womb was shut.
I suspect there are some in our day whose identities are tied with performance. The man whose entire life is dedicated to his work, but who in the midst of difficult economic times loses his job and in the center of that loss feels that his very identity has been taken away from him, is a lot like Hannah. We are taught to find our identity in the things we wear, the houses we live in, the vehicles we drive, the company we keep, the beer we drink, the teams we root for whose apparel we place on our bodies, and on and on and on. And of course, in today's world we often associate God's blessings with wealth, even though our Lord died penniless, stretched out upon the hard wood of the cross.
When we think about it, it's not that difficult to understand how Hannah must've felt in her day. Then multiply her own disappointment with the cruelty of those around her who mocked her and looked upon her with judgment because she was unable to bear a child, and we may gain a glimpse of what she felt inside her heart. Hannah lived with pain, and her pain brought her to her knees where she was compelled to examine it -- for to her the God of Israel, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, is a living God, not a God of fairytale.
Hannah surrendered whatever dreams she had of filling her tent with the sounds of happy voices. She is one of the broken ones, one of those whose dreams don't come true. Yet in her brokenness she still made space for God to dwell. From her brokenness her prayer ascends to the living God. Out of her brokenness a new vision is forged within her soul. Her desire was no longer for her own tent or even for her husband's -- her desire was for God.
She desired God to crack open the veil that was between him and her. She desired God to burst the blockage of her womb. She desired God to allow her motherly instincts to give birth to a child not for her own gratification, but to a child who would be a blessing to the land that God loves. She opened herself to a new vision, where the God of Israel would be mother and father to the child.
We hear her praying, we see her weeping, we perceive her passion, and we are humbled by her faith, for she did not run away from the pain within her. She did not bury the brokenness of her heart. Rather, she brought the totality of her being and offered it in a sacrificial prayer to the living God, offering the fruit of her womb to become a servant of the Lord above all else, if she would be so blessed. Even when the breath within her is no longer able to find the strength to audibly speak words, her lips continue to move in passionate, painful, sacrificial prayer.
Eli the priest, who overheard her pleas, recognized the near insanity that had captured this woman. But it is not insanity or drunkenness that possesses Hannah -- it was feelings and emotions so deep, so whole, so real that they are almost frightening to behold -- but the one who is most able to peer into the depths of her heart and mind and soul hears her. The living God heard her, and his word through the priest comforted her -- and she believed and then conceived and bore a son who was to be the greatest prophet ever known in the land of Israel.
We don't know much more about Hannah. But one can imagine her delight in the boy Samuel and how difficult it was to give him up. The one who was mocked as barren not only gave birth to a boy, but she then offered her child to the Lord. She surrendered the most important gift in her life to her God.
Our God is not an easy God -- and when we think honestly about his demands on our lives, we discover there is nothing left for us. When we reflect on the commandment to love God with all our heart, all our soul, all our mind, and all our strength, we may wonder what's left -- nothing is left, for all is all, but in the midst of that nothing we gain everything. We can only imagine the pain and deep dissatisfaction that Hannah felt as she presented her child to the temple -- but her sacrifice offers us a foretaste of the sacrifice that our Lord would make upon the cross.
Hannah is a mother, a mother of our faith, and for her we offer great thanks to God.
John Smylie is the rector of St. Mark's Episcopal Church in Casper, Wyoming. Previously he served as the dean of the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist in Spokane, Washington. He is a published author and storyteller as well as a singer-songwriter. Smylie recently completed Grace for Today, a collection of 25 stories that explores how grace, loss, and restoration are part of the same fabric.
Favor with God
by John Sumwalt
1 Samuel 1:4-20
"Do not regard your servant as a worthless woman, for I have been speaking out of my great anxiety and vexation all this time." Then Eli answered, "Go in peace; the God of Israel grant the petition you have made to him." And she said, "Let your servant find favor in your sight." Then the woman went to her quarters, ate and drank with her husband, and her countenance was sad no longer.
-- 1 Samuel 1:16-18
Ruth David had always been her father's favorite. It may have been because she was disliked by everyone else, both inside and outside the family. Ruth was big-boned and heavy, ungainly in every way. She had a lumbering gait and a get-out-of-my-way attitude. To have called Ruth boisterous would have been an understatement. She was bossy and rough with children, even though she fancied herself a good babysitter and had once taught Sunday school at the Congregational Church. Ruth was infamous for her screaming tantrums, which occurred whenever she didn't get her own way. She once stopped play at a basketball game because her mother refused to buy her a second soda. The school psychologist said Ruth was slow: "developmentally disabled" was the official term. Everybody translated that as "mentally retarded." It provided an explanation for some of Ruth's behavior, but it didn't help people like her any better.
Ruth dropped out of school in the tenth grade, the same year her mother and father divorced. She went to live with her father in the trailer court on the edge of town. Ruth's mother got the house and the four younger children. Ruth was glad to get away from that part of her family. She had never felt like she belonged with them.
Matt David was glad to take Ruth. He found her behavior difficult, but he was utterly devoted to her. She reminded him of his mother, who had also been known as a disagreeable person. Ruth had her grandmother's sparkling blue eyes and captivating smile, which, though rarely seen, could melt your heart when it appeared.
All went well with Ruth and Matt until just after Ruth's nineteenth birthday. She started running around with older men and staying out all hours of the night. Matt arranged for birth control pills and reminded Ruth to take them, but sometimes she forgot or refused. The inevitable happened in mid-summer. Matt noticed that Ruth appeared to be heavier than usual. He took her to the clinic and the doctor confirmed that she was four months pregnant. What was worse, a blood test revealed that she had been infected with the HIV virus. Medications were started immediately, and when the baby was born he was declared to be free of HIV. The doctors called it a miracle. It was the first of many signs that this was a most extraordinary baby.
Ruth proved to be a surprisingly good mother. She was tender with her own child, spent all of her time with him, and gave him everything a child could need. Matt watched over them, doting on both his grandson and his daughter.
Jacob David, unlike his mother, was exceedingly bright. Matt noticed early on that he developed at a more rapid rate than any of his own children had. Jacob was talking in complete sentences at the age of two and reading before he was five. In kindergarten, he was assigned to the gifted and talented program, and in first grade he was so far ahead of the rest of the class that they had to arrange for a special tutor. The next year he was skipped ahead two grades, and when he was eight he started doing high-school level work.
Socially, Jacob didn't fare as well. The older boys called him "son of retard" and the B word. There were taunts of "Your mother is a whore... and where is your daddy?" Jacob often came home with bruises after fights with schoolyard bullies twice his size. "Hold your head up high," his grandfather told him. "You are a child of God. That is all anyone needs to know."
Ruth succumbed to AIDS on Jacob's ninth birthday. She had been trying to hold on until the party and had supervised the baking of his cake the day before. Matt was devastated. Jacob seemed to take it in stride. He had been preparing himself for years. Jacob had studied the HIV virus, understood what was coming, and explained it all to Ruth in terms she could understand. This was the beginning of what was to become Jacob's life work.
Thirty years later, Professor Jacob Benjamin David helped his 80-year-old grandfather onto a stage in the faraway city of Oslo, where both of them were presented to the King and Queen of Norway. Dr. David then stepped to the center of the stage to accept the Nobel Prize for medicine. He had discovered a vaccine for inoculation against the AIDS virus.
When it came his turn to speak, Dr. David held up the coveted prize and said, "This is for my mother, Ruth David. I wish she could be here this day to see what God has done."
**************
Author's Note: This story is dedicated to the memory of Dr. Jonas Salk. He was born in the Bronx, New York, on October 28, 1914, the son of a garment worker. In 1955, at the age of 40, Salk discovered a safe and effective polio vaccine. In 1952, 58,000 cases of polio were reported in the United States in an epidemic that claimed 3,000 lives that year. Dr. Salk's vaccine was a turning point in the battle against polio. At the time of his death in June 1995, he was at work on a vaccine to prevent AIDS.
John Sumwalt is the pastor of Our Lord's United Methodist Church in New Berlin, Wisconsin, and a noted storyteller. He is the author of nine books, including the acclaimed Vision Stories series and How to Preach the Miracles: Why People Don't Believe Them and What You Can Do About It. John and his wife Jo Perry-Sumwalt served for three years as the co-editors of StoryShare. A graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of Dubuque Theological Seminary (UDTS), Sumwalt received the Herbert Manning Jr. award for parish ministry from UDTS in 1997.
A Stronger Foundation
by Peter Andrew Smith
Mark 13:1-8
There once was a young man who was clever and strong. In school he received top marks, and on the athletic field he was a star player. He had many admirers and friends who surrounded him wherever he went. Everyone who knew him believed that he had everything he needed to succeed in life. Yet the young man thought there must be something more than school and sports.
The young man graduated and went to university on a full scholarship. He was popular on campus and received academic awards and sports trophies. He had plenty of friends and caught the eye of many young women, who admired his popularity and good looks. The young man had everything he wanted in life -- yet he still couldn't shake the feeling that he was missing something.
He grew older, and when he finished his studies the man was recruited by a thriving company. He quickly made his mark in the business world and leapt up the corporate ladder. He found he didn't have as much time for sports anymore, but he still played in recreational leagues. He met a special woman who made his heart sing and made him think about his future. His coworkers considered him the golden boy -- but the man still looked for more in his life.
Romance led to marriage and children. The man worked hard to provide for his family and took on extra responsibility to get ahead in his career. He continued to excel in everything he did in the office, at home, and on the sports field. He considered his world and decided he had everything there was to have in life -- a rewarding career, a loving wife and children, and a home of his own.
The man continued to work hard and get promotions. With his busy career and his commitment to sports, he found his children growing up without him and his wife becoming a stranger. When he confided his uneasiness to his friends they told him he simply needed to manage his time better. The man tried, but he found that even when he was able to find time for family, work, and recreation, the stress of trying to be everything and do everything did not go away.
On the way to work one morning his car slid on a patch of ice and slammed into a concrete barrier. When he woke up in the hospital, the man found that his body had been broken and his confidence shaken by the crash. Everyone around him said his survival was a miracle and a blessing. Faced with a long and difficult recovery and the loss of so much, the man was not so sure.
The man's life changed during the next few years. He was unable to continue in his high-powered position as he recovered from the accident, and he found himself in a less demanding role in the company. His body wasn't up to playing sports, so he settled on helping out with his children's teams. His friends and coworkers felt sorry for him, but the man became aware that he was discovering something important.
He reconnected with his wife and children. The times they played games together or simply talked continued to be the highlight of his day, even after he returned to work. He was now a part of his children's daily lives, and helped them grow and discover their way in life. The visits from the local pastor when he was in the hospital led him back to church. Time for prayer and Bible reading and Sunday worship became part of his family's life.
When he limped to his car to go home after work, the executives of the company and those who had known him as a star athlete pitied the man. He sometimes thought of his former career and sports days with a tinge of sadness when he drove home. Yet, as he pulled into the driveway and was greeted by his children and saw his wife, that feeling was replaced by thankfulness as the man praised God for the way his life had turned out.
Peter Andrew Smith is an ordained minister in the United Church of Canada who currently serves at St. James United Church in Antigonish, Nova Scotia. He is the author of All Things Are Ready (CSS), a book of lectionary-based communion prayers, as well as many stories and articles, which can be found listed at www.peterandrewsmith.com.
**************
StoryShare, November 15, 2009, issue.
Copyright 2009 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to the StoryShare service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons, in worship and classroom settings, in brief devotions, in radio spots, and as newsletter fillers. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to permissions@csspub.com or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 5450 N. Dixie Highway, Lima, Ohio 45807.
What's Up This Week
"A Sacrifice of Thanksgiving" by John Smylie
"Favor with God" by John Sumwalt
"A Stronger Foundation" by Peter Andrew Smith
What's Up This Week
We often presume that the bedrock foundations that we build our lives upon are unshakeable -- but as this week's edition of StoryShare reminds us, life has a way of unexpectedly disrupting all the "best-laid plans of mice and men." John Smylie investigates the biblical figure of Hannah, who built her very identity upon her dreams of bearing children… only to experience increasing frustration. Likewise, Peter Andrew Smith tells a tale of a man who as the result of an accident lost much of the life he had worked hard to build. But in each case, out of that shattering experience came unexpected blessings -- for Hannah, God finally granted her a son, whom she returns to the service of the Lord as a sign of her thanksgiving; while the man in Smith's story discovers a much stronger foundation for his life as he reconnects with himself and his family. Meanwhile, John Sumwalt tells a story that shows the great blessings for society that can emerge even from the great suffering of physical maladies.
* * * * * * * * *
A Sacrifice of Thanksgiving
by John Smylie
1 Samuel 1:4-20
When Hannah was a little girl she dreamed of having a big family. Like the 12 tribes of Israel, she always wanted to have 12 children. In her culture boys were favored, but in her heart she hoped to have as many girls as she had boys -- six of each would've been just right. When she wasn't helping her mother with household chores she would wander in the countryside and dream of what it would be like to be a mother. She thought of the names that she should give her children, and she wondered who her husband would be. She was confident that he would love her, confident perhaps because she grew up in a family where she was loved and valued and cherished.
Like most of the girls of her village, she was married at a very young age. Right after she reached her first menstrual period, she was betrothed to the man whom she would give herself to. He was a good man, kind -- and his love for her was more than an obligation; his love for her was genuine and his generosity was always overwhelming to her. She felt very blessed. They dreamed together of the children they would have; she shared with him the names that she hoped he would agree to give them, and they prayed that the Lord would guide and bless them both and their family.
But as the days of their marriage lengthened, Hannah's hopes darkened. She wondered why she could not conceive and bear a child, what had she done, how had she displeased her Lord. Had she not been cheerful; had she not been faithful; had she offended the Lord in some way that she didn't know? She racked her mind but could find no reason for her barrenness, and when she was able she would wander into the countryside and weep as she remembered the dreams that she had as a child, dreams that were fading. She tried to remember her dreams of children, of laughter, and of the sweet chaos that fills the rooms of families. She dreaded returning from the open fields back to her empty tent, for her room was barren, her hopes were dashed -- and even though her husband continued to bless her with his presence, with his kindness, and with his favor, she knew she was a disappointment and a failure.
She knew the story of Abraham and Sarah. She looked out from her tent every day hoping that visitors would arrive. She hoped that angels from heaven would come to her and open her womb so that she could bear a child. All these hopes and dreams she kept to herself. She was afraid that her husband would stop loving her, even though that fear was not rational because she could see how he lavished her with his attention and with blessings.
When one's identity is tied up with performance -- and in Hannah's case that performance was motherhood -- when one can't perform the expected task, one feels inadequate… lost… purposeless… a failure. In Hannah's case, what was necessary for her to feel good about her identity was to conceive and bear children. To be barren for her was to be cursed -- and yet she knew she was not cursed and that her God was real, powerful, and alive, even though her womb was shut.
I suspect there are some in our day whose identities are tied with performance. The man whose entire life is dedicated to his work, but who in the midst of difficult economic times loses his job and in the center of that loss feels that his very identity has been taken away from him, is a lot like Hannah. We are taught to find our identity in the things we wear, the houses we live in, the vehicles we drive, the company we keep, the beer we drink, the teams we root for whose apparel we place on our bodies, and on and on and on. And of course, in today's world we often associate God's blessings with wealth, even though our Lord died penniless, stretched out upon the hard wood of the cross.
When we think about it, it's not that difficult to understand how Hannah must've felt in her day. Then multiply her own disappointment with the cruelty of those around her who mocked her and looked upon her with judgment because she was unable to bear a child, and we may gain a glimpse of what she felt inside her heart. Hannah lived with pain, and her pain brought her to her knees where she was compelled to examine it -- for to her the God of Israel, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, is a living God, not a God of fairytale.
Hannah surrendered whatever dreams she had of filling her tent with the sounds of happy voices. She is one of the broken ones, one of those whose dreams don't come true. Yet in her brokenness she still made space for God to dwell. From her brokenness her prayer ascends to the living God. Out of her brokenness a new vision is forged within her soul. Her desire was no longer for her own tent or even for her husband's -- her desire was for God.
She desired God to crack open the veil that was between him and her. She desired God to burst the blockage of her womb. She desired God to allow her motherly instincts to give birth to a child not for her own gratification, but to a child who would be a blessing to the land that God loves. She opened herself to a new vision, where the God of Israel would be mother and father to the child.
We hear her praying, we see her weeping, we perceive her passion, and we are humbled by her faith, for she did not run away from the pain within her. She did not bury the brokenness of her heart. Rather, she brought the totality of her being and offered it in a sacrificial prayer to the living God, offering the fruit of her womb to become a servant of the Lord above all else, if she would be so blessed. Even when the breath within her is no longer able to find the strength to audibly speak words, her lips continue to move in passionate, painful, sacrificial prayer.
Eli the priest, who overheard her pleas, recognized the near insanity that had captured this woman. But it is not insanity or drunkenness that possesses Hannah -- it was feelings and emotions so deep, so whole, so real that they are almost frightening to behold -- but the one who is most able to peer into the depths of her heart and mind and soul hears her. The living God heard her, and his word through the priest comforted her -- and she believed and then conceived and bore a son who was to be the greatest prophet ever known in the land of Israel.
We don't know much more about Hannah. But one can imagine her delight in the boy Samuel and how difficult it was to give him up. The one who was mocked as barren not only gave birth to a boy, but she then offered her child to the Lord. She surrendered the most important gift in her life to her God.
Our God is not an easy God -- and when we think honestly about his demands on our lives, we discover there is nothing left for us. When we reflect on the commandment to love God with all our heart, all our soul, all our mind, and all our strength, we may wonder what's left -- nothing is left, for all is all, but in the midst of that nothing we gain everything. We can only imagine the pain and deep dissatisfaction that Hannah felt as she presented her child to the temple -- but her sacrifice offers us a foretaste of the sacrifice that our Lord would make upon the cross.
Hannah is a mother, a mother of our faith, and for her we offer great thanks to God.
John Smylie is the rector of St. Mark's Episcopal Church in Casper, Wyoming. Previously he served as the dean of the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist in Spokane, Washington. He is a published author and storyteller as well as a singer-songwriter. Smylie recently completed Grace for Today, a collection of 25 stories that explores how grace, loss, and restoration are part of the same fabric.
Favor with God
by John Sumwalt
1 Samuel 1:4-20
"Do not regard your servant as a worthless woman, for I have been speaking out of my great anxiety and vexation all this time." Then Eli answered, "Go in peace; the God of Israel grant the petition you have made to him." And she said, "Let your servant find favor in your sight." Then the woman went to her quarters, ate and drank with her husband, and her countenance was sad no longer.
-- 1 Samuel 1:16-18
Ruth David had always been her father's favorite. It may have been because she was disliked by everyone else, both inside and outside the family. Ruth was big-boned and heavy, ungainly in every way. She had a lumbering gait and a get-out-of-my-way attitude. To have called Ruth boisterous would have been an understatement. She was bossy and rough with children, even though she fancied herself a good babysitter and had once taught Sunday school at the Congregational Church. Ruth was infamous for her screaming tantrums, which occurred whenever she didn't get her own way. She once stopped play at a basketball game because her mother refused to buy her a second soda. The school psychologist said Ruth was slow: "developmentally disabled" was the official term. Everybody translated that as "mentally retarded." It provided an explanation for some of Ruth's behavior, but it didn't help people like her any better.
Ruth dropped out of school in the tenth grade, the same year her mother and father divorced. She went to live with her father in the trailer court on the edge of town. Ruth's mother got the house and the four younger children. Ruth was glad to get away from that part of her family. She had never felt like she belonged with them.
Matt David was glad to take Ruth. He found her behavior difficult, but he was utterly devoted to her. She reminded him of his mother, who had also been known as a disagreeable person. Ruth had her grandmother's sparkling blue eyes and captivating smile, which, though rarely seen, could melt your heart when it appeared.
All went well with Ruth and Matt until just after Ruth's nineteenth birthday. She started running around with older men and staying out all hours of the night. Matt arranged for birth control pills and reminded Ruth to take them, but sometimes she forgot or refused. The inevitable happened in mid-summer. Matt noticed that Ruth appeared to be heavier than usual. He took her to the clinic and the doctor confirmed that she was four months pregnant. What was worse, a blood test revealed that she had been infected with the HIV virus. Medications were started immediately, and when the baby was born he was declared to be free of HIV. The doctors called it a miracle. It was the first of many signs that this was a most extraordinary baby.
Ruth proved to be a surprisingly good mother. She was tender with her own child, spent all of her time with him, and gave him everything a child could need. Matt watched over them, doting on both his grandson and his daughter.
Jacob David, unlike his mother, was exceedingly bright. Matt noticed early on that he developed at a more rapid rate than any of his own children had. Jacob was talking in complete sentences at the age of two and reading before he was five. In kindergarten, he was assigned to the gifted and talented program, and in first grade he was so far ahead of the rest of the class that they had to arrange for a special tutor. The next year he was skipped ahead two grades, and when he was eight he started doing high-school level work.
Socially, Jacob didn't fare as well. The older boys called him "son of retard" and the B word. There were taunts of "Your mother is a whore... and where is your daddy?" Jacob often came home with bruises after fights with schoolyard bullies twice his size. "Hold your head up high," his grandfather told him. "You are a child of God. That is all anyone needs to know."
Ruth succumbed to AIDS on Jacob's ninth birthday. She had been trying to hold on until the party and had supervised the baking of his cake the day before. Matt was devastated. Jacob seemed to take it in stride. He had been preparing himself for years. Jacob had studied the HIV virus, understood what was coming, and explained it all to Ruth in terms she could understand. This was the beginning of what was to become Jacob's life work.
Thirty years later, Professor Jacob Benjamin David helped his 80-year-old grandfather onto a stage in the faraway city of Oslo, where both of them were presented to the King and Queen of Norway. Dr. David then stepped to the center of the stage to accept the Nobel Prize for medicine. He had discovered a vaccine for inoculation against the AIDS virus.
When it came his turn to speak, Dr. David held up the coveted prize and said, "This is for my mother, Ruth David. I wish she could be here this day to see what God has done."
**************
Author's Note: This story is dedicated to the memory of Dr. Jonas Salk. He was born in the Bronx, New York, on October 28, 1914, the son of a garment worker. In 1955, at the age of 40, Salk discovered a safe and effective polio vaccine. In 1952, 58,000 cases of polio were reported in the United States in an epidemic that claimed 3,000 lives that year. Dr. Salk's vaccine was a turning point in the battle against polio. At the time of his death in June 1995, he was at work on a vaccine to prevent AIDS.
John Sumwalt is the pastor of Our Lord's United Methodist Church in New Berlin, Wisconsin, and a noted storyteller. He is the author of nine books, including the acclaimed Vision Stories series and How to Preach the Miracles: Why People Don't Believe Them and What You Can Do About It. John and his wife Jo Perry-Sumwalt served for three years as the co-editors of StoryShare. A graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of Dubuque Theological Seminary (UDTS), Sumwalt received the Herbert Manning Jr. award for parish ministry from UDTS in 1997.
A Stronger Foundation
by Peter Andrew Smith
Mark 13:1-8
There once was a young man who was clever and strong. In school he received top marks, and on the athletic field he was a star player. He had many admirers and friends who surrounded him wherever he went. Everyone who knew him believed that he had everything he needed to succeed in life. Yet the young man thought there must be something more than school and sports.
The young man graduated and went to university on a full scholarship. He was popular on campus and received academic awards and sports trophies. He had plenty of friends and caught the eye of many young women, who admired his popularity and good looks. The young man had everything he wanted in life -- yet he still couldn't shake the feeling that he was missing something.
He grew older, and when he finished his studies the man was recruited by a thriving company. He quickly made his mark in the business world and leapt up the corporate ladder. He found he didn't have as much time for sports anymore, but he still played in recreational leagues. He met a special woman who made his heart sing and made him think about his future. His coworkers considered him the golden boy -- but the man still looked for more in his life.
Romance led to marriage and children. The man worked hard to provide for his family and took on extra responsibility to get ahead in his career. He continued to excel in everything he did in the office, at home, and on the sports field. He considered his world and decided he had everything there was to have in life -- a rewarding career, a loving wife and children, and a home of his own.
The man continued to work hard and get promotions. With his busy career and his commitment to sports, he found his children growing up without him and his wife becoming a stranger. When he confided his uneasiness to his friends they told him he simply needed to manage his time better. The man tried, but he found that even when he was able to find time for family, work, and recreation, the stress of trying to be everything and do everything did not go away.
On the way to work one morning his car slid on a patch of ice and slammed into a concrete barrier. When he woke up in the hospital, the man found that his body had been broken and his confidence shaken by the crash. Everyone around him said his survival was a miracle and a blessing. Faced with a long and difficult recovery and the loss of so much, the man was not so sure.
The man's life changed during the next few years. He was unable to continue in his high-powered position as he recovered from the accident, and he found himself in a less demanding role in the company. His body wasn't up to playing sports, so he settled on helping out with his children's teams. His friends and coworkers felt sorry for him, but the man became aware that he was discovering something important.
He reconnected with his wife and children. The times they played games together or simply talked continued to be the highlight of his day, even after he returned to work. He was now a part of his children's daily lives, and helped them grow and discover their way in life. The visits from the local pastor when he was in the hospital led him back to church. Time for prayer and Bible reading and Sunday worship became part of his family's life.
When he limped to his car to go home after work, the executives of the company and those who had known him as a star athlete pitied the man. He sometimes thought of his former career and sports days with a tinge of sadness when he drove home. Yet, as he pulled into the driveway and was greeted by his children and saw his wife, that feeling was replaced by thankfulness as the man praised God for the way his life had turned out.
Peter Andrew Smith is an ordained minister in the United Church of Canada who currently serves at St. James United Church in Antigonish, Nova Scotia. He is the author of All Things Are Ready (CSS), a book of lectionary-based communion prayers, as well as many stories and articles, which can be found listed at www.peterandrewsmith.com.
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StoryShare, November 15, 2009, issue.
Copyright 2009 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to the StoryShare service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons, in worship and classroom settings, in brief devotions, in radio spots, and as newsletter fillers. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to permissions@csspub.com or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 5450 N. Dixie Highway, Lima, Ohio 45807.
