My “Me-Ma” wore one type of perfume. I remember the whiff of her when I bent down to hug her neck as she sat in her favorite chair. What I would give to be able to bend down and embrace her one more time. What would it be like to hold her hand anew, to look her in the eyes, and pick up where we left off discussing life and its perils. Oh, if I could see Me-Ma again. 

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We hunger for people who really care. They’re few and far between. The ones who sacrifice their time and really listen, who are unafraid of inconvenience, and extend their caring touch. 

Jesus touched the hemorrhaging woman, the woman caught in adultery, the blind, and people plagued with leprosy. He cares.

The late Frederick Buechner wrote, “What did it feel like to be near enough to touch him if you dared? If his eyes happened to meet yours for a moment, what would you say if you could find the right words for saying it, and how would he answer you if he could so much as hear you in the midst of all the babbling and jostling? What if just for a moment as he tried to shoulder his way out of the crowd he brushed against you so that for a second or two you actually felt the solid flesh and bone of him, smelled the smell of him?” (Secrets in the Dark)

We’ve wished it. “Oh, if I could see Jesus in real time.” But would it help our faith for the long haul?

I can’t say life gets easier just because someone comes up to me and says “Keep the faith.” That sounds generic. Faith is a big thing and when you look at the entire race of the Christian life all at once it’s overwhelming. 

I think we should tell folks who are having a rough go of it to “Keep the pace.” Since Jesus told us not to worry about tomorrow we need to focus on the day at hand.

My wife and I walk over two miles in our neighborhood most every evening. We keep a good pace going up and down hills, never stopping until we reach home. The journey of the Christian life is not one of speed, but a faithful-steady pace.  

However, we honestly long for a sign from above to get us through. We wanna know we’re on the right track when our prayers aren’t answered.

Oswald Chambers, wrote, “God can do nothing for me until I get to the limit of the possible.” Yeah, I’d love to actually see my Me-Ma and my Jesus when my world or the year like 2020 seems impossible, after I’ve prayed and prayed.

But Chambers adds, “Jesus never mentioned unanswered prayer. He had the boundless certainty that prayer is always answered. Paul said, “Never stop praying.” (I Thessalonians 5:17, NLT)

As you face today, keep the pace, praying every step of the way.

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music video: “If I Could See” (what the Angels see)