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Good Shepherd Lutheran Church Today's Frontline Devotion March 3, 2005 LIFTED |
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Frontline Devotion for Thursday, March 3, 2005 By Penny
Risen
Matthew
22: 23-33
Let’s see: Shovel the walk? Watch surfing movie? Shovel? Movie? Shovel?
Movie!
Like plucking petals off a daisy, my son and I quickly debated these choices of how to spend our Snow Day together. (A snow day in suburban Maryland is when schools close down over a snowfall that would be considered wimpy in other Northern climates.)
Little suspecting that we were launching a spiritual journey, we settled onto the couch to watch “Step Into Liquid.” As snowflakes flew outside, this gorgeous 90-minute documentary washed us with soothing and exciting images – turquoise skies, blue-green waves, tanned and toned bodies challenging whatever was breaking off far-flung shores – and lifted us with lively and mellow music. For beach-lovers still six months from a summer getaway, this film was an ideal way to touch a favorite part of nature while snowbound.
“Step Into Liquid” is the latest venture in a family business: In the 1960s, director Bruce Brown’s movie “Endless Summer” brought the mystique of surfing to landlocked surfer wannabes like me. Now his son, award-winning director/surfer Dana Brown, “finds the real search isn’t for the biggest tube or most radical ride, but instead uncovers and examines what it is about surfing that hooks people’s souls, becoming integral to their lives in ways that far exceed a simple pastime.” (See www.stepintoliquid.com for more on this 2003, PG-rated surfing masterpiece.)
About mid-film, the shot of a bunch of buddies on a sun-washed California beach grabbed our hearts. These tall, lanky guys gently carried a young man in their arms into the shallows. They helped him strap on a surfboard, belly down like a boogie board, and guided him into the waves. Although paralyzed from the waist down in a surfing accident at age 17, this remarkable young man showed why he wouldn’t choose to be anywhere else when the surf’s up near his San Diego home. With his friends, his faith and his love of life to lift him up, Jesse Billauer – medal winning surfer and paraplegic – is grateful to still enjoy freedom in the waves.
“At the Resurrection, we’re beyond (earthly bonds).
As with the angels, all our ecstasies and intimacies then
will be with God … The living God defines Himself not as
the God of dead men, but of the living.”
Matthew 22, The Message Bible
In the days leading up to fulfillment of His mission on the cross, Jesus often offered words of encouragement, of healing, and of hope embodied in God’s Kingdom of Heaven. The Resurrection is coming and for those who seek His Grace, it will mend those with broken bodies and broken spirits, He preached.
In the promise of Eternal Life, the sorrows and pain of earth are eased for those who dwell with the Father. The living God is active in our lives today, and He will renew and care for us tomorrow in Heaven, Jesus declared.
Even though disability struck his body, Jesse Billauer’s spirit and joy for life are intact. He tries to lift others, especially young people, with his message of hope and to encourage them to make every day count. He spends much of his time in a wheelchair giving powerful motivational talks at churches, synagogues, schools, colleges, prisons, and to countless community groups. Through his foundation, Life Rolls On, Jesse and people like the late Christopher Reeve raise money for research in spinal chord injury. Their efforts also lift up those with disabilities to enable them to get the most out of life. (To see its other projects and to read Jesse’s whole story, go to www.liferollson.org.)
It’s tough to predict what will give us joy in life or the will to go on when life takes a tragic turn. Tales of perseverance like Jesse’s give hope: When a crippling accident put his future at risk, this man lifted himself spiritually and continued to love life, his family and friends, and the peace the ocean offered to him.
God’s sacrifice of His Son Jesus Christ and His Resurrection sometimes may seem far removed from our day-to-day existence, but the promise of peace that they hold can lift us in this life and beyond.
Prayer for the Day: Dear Lord, thank you for Your boundless love and this beautiful earth. Let the peace that awaits in Heaven comfort those who are in pain, are wounded or simply yearn for rest. Amen.
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