Shortly after I left Princeton Seminary, I was called to the Lakeside Presbyterian Church of Duluth, Minnesota.  There I joined the Senior Pastor, Robert W. Dickson, who remains to this day my mentor and close personal friend.  Not long after I arrived in Duluth, Bob left on vacation.  On a Saturday afternoon I received an urgent call asking me to come to the home of a member family.  Quickly, I learned the tragic news that a young father, backing out of his driveway, had rolled over and killed his three year old son.  The little boy was hiding under the car and did not answer when his father called to him several times.  Upon entering the home I was taken to a bedroom where his parents were overcome with grief and shock.  As I hugged them I exploded into tears.  I cried with them without saying a single word.  Nothing in my training had prepared me for such a tragedy.  Three years later one of the parents came to me and said, "We'll never forget how you came and cried with us when we lost our little boy."

There's an important lesson here; When people are in grief they don't want theological pronouncements; they just want us to come and love them.  They just want us to come and cry with them.  Jesus wept with those he loved - and he still does.  He hurts with us.  He feels our pain.  We all face suffering some time, and when it comes we can know that our Lord is hurting with us and that he will love us through it.  He will walk through the valley with us, and in time he will bring us out of the valley of sorrow to the mountaintop on the other side.  Jesus wept with those he loved - and he still does.

Prayer:  Loving God, thank you for your love and extravagance.  And thank you for the opportunity to talk about faith, and how we can be part of the healing process.  Help us to minister in love to friends, family and strangers, remembering that we are blessed to be a blessing to others.  May we know that you are with us and give us the power to bring comfort and healing in your name.  Let your grace fall especially on the men and women serving our country at home and around the world.  May they feel our love and prayers.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.