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For MIT physicist Alan Lightman, his daughter’s wedding day hit him hard. Here she was, ready to walk down the aisle when he thought of his daughter. He wanted her back to age 10 or as a first grader holding a starfish smiling with a missing tooth. Instead, time sped on. He struggled because his view of the physical world was of decay. He confessed: Perhaps this immortal thing that we wish for exists beyond time and space. Perhaps it is God. I cannot believe that nature could be so amiss. In my continual cravings for eternal youth and constancy, I am being sentimental. Perhaps I could accept the fact that in a few short years, my atoms will be scattered in wind and soil, my mind and thoughts gone, my “I-ness” dissolved in an infinite cavern of nothingness. But I cannot accept that fate even though I believe it to be true. I cannot force my mind to go to that dark place. People yearn for a life beyond this one. Many feel locked out, looking for a pipe dream. God can give us what we long for. Paul mused: “For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.” (2 Corinthians 5:1) Time moves on, but time moves toward something better and grander for the believer. For those seeking immortality, it remains elusive unless you seek it in the one who gives it. Where are you looking? -Robert G. Taylor-

Mt. Elbert is not a place to get lost. Colorado’s highest mountain challenges even the most experienced climber. Yet, you can get a cell phone signal on the mountain. But if lost, you need to answer your phone. One hiker had to spend the night on the mountain until finally turning up safely. But search and rescue teams combed the mountain for him without result, despite placing calls to his phone. The reason for this delay? The lost hiker ignored the calls because they did not come from a recognized number. Jesus knew the feeling. He told a story about a banquet. Invitees offered excuses and conflicts. Frustrated, the king went to the streets and brought any who would come. Jesus ends the parable by saying, “For many are called, but few are chosen.” (Matthew 22:14, ESV) The message of Jesus, at least in America, is widely spread, yet the faithful shrink by the year. It is not because people cannot hear the message, but because people don’t answer it. Can you answer Jesus if he calls you? -Robert G. Taylor-

Susan Bergeman is a runner, but not an ordinary runner. Instead, when she runs, she pushes her brother in a wheelchair. Bergeman’s brother Jeffery suffered a cardiac arrest as a 22-month-old infant. The episode left him with brain damage and cerebral palsy. Susan wanted to keep him involved. She knew Jeffrey loved to watch the runners compete. So, as a runner, Susan decided to get her brother in a race. She pushes his wheelchair. Sometimes it is difficult. Susan says when the hills come, she will “push away the pain and focus on him enjoying it.” Few will push wheelchairs while running a cross country race. But that should not stop us from doing something comparable but on a different scale. Paul counseled, “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” (Galatians 6:2) All of us have our disabilities when we need someone to help. Look around because someone has a burden that requires a caring companion to shoulder with them. It may not be a wheelchair, but others need it just as Jeffrey needed his sister. Whose burden can you help carry? -Robert G. Taylor-

Something is strange about Apu Sarker. This son of a farmer in Bangladesh has none of the swirls and ridges we call fingerprints. His father had no prints, as did his grandfather. It is a genetic mutation found rarely. And Apu lacks fingerprints as well. When the nation issued national ID cards, they required a thumbprint to be included. No one knew what to do. Finally, they issued a card that said, “NO FINGERPRINT.” Our fingerprints are unique. Today, they are used to open phones, computers, and doors. Without fingerprints, identity is lost. Paul wanted the prints of Jesus in his life. He told the Philippians: “that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,” (Philippians 3:10) Paul knew the world would not believe the message if the Christians lacked his prints in their lives. What does your life look like? Does it bear God’s imprint in all that you do? -Robert G. Taylor-

We arrive back in the last week of November. The crisp air whispers to the leaves to begin their freefall. And with it brings Thanksgiving, our annual time to remember to give thanks. Songs encourage us to “count our blessings.” Paintings of pilgrims' hands folded in prayer grace blog posts. The question of the hour is, “what are you thankful for?” Each person has something to be thankful for. Jesus demonstrated that. In Luke 17, Jesus encounters a vagabond group of outsiders. They are lepers banished from society lest they afflict their brethren. They cry, “have mercy on us.”   And Jesus heals them, and they run for the priest to pronounce them clean. We know the story. A single one returns, and Jesus is both puzzled and amazed. “Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; and he fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan.” (Luke 17:15–16) In that verse is the heart of gratitude. A person cannot be thankful for what he has. He can only be grateful for what he has been given. Grace and gratitude intertwined at heart. So as the turkey is carved and potatoes passed, don’t think about what you have. Remember what you have received from the Lord. Happy Thanksgiving. -Robert G. Taylor-

During the pandemic, essential workers kept America alive. One of those was New Yorker Gustavo Ajeche. Gustavo immigrated from Guatemala in 2004 and started to rebuild his life. By day he works construction. When he leaves that job, he goes to his second job, delivering food to New York’s financial district. His wife was a nanny for a Manhattan family. Gustavo has little but responsibilities. He cares for his family and supports an extended family in Guatemala. His jobs bring him little recognition until the pandemic hit. Then, he and other essential workers proved their worth. He said, “The pandemic was hard, but it taught me I can help. I would come home exhausted, but hearing ‘gracias” or ‘God bless you,’ that was beautiful. I’ll never forget my roots in Guatemala. I struggled for my community. But I feel like a real New Yorker now.” We need a “well done” from time to time. It is the oxygen of the soul. That’s why Jesus reminded those who labored for the kingdom not to give up. A day would come that would make it worth it all. In what we call the parable of the talents, a simple servant hears the words of praise from God himself. “His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’” (Matthew 25:21) Life can be difficult, and Christianity is challenging at times. But we live for a time when God himself will say, “well done.” Keep going! -Robert G. Taylor-

Stop and listen and experience. Something astounding is happening to you. You are breathing. Each day we take 20,000 breaths. Each breath brings oxygen and carbon dioxide into balance to keep life going. And it affects not only the lungs but your brain as well. With each deep breath, our heart rate drops and calms us down. The breath is the very essence of our life. When it stops, life begins to cease. This fundamental aspect of life applies to God. Paul wrote Timothy: “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,” (2 Timothy 3:16) When we read the text of the Bible, we have the rhythmic exhalation of God’s mind. We can absorb it and live. Remember that we are alive because we breathe, but we have eternal life because God did. Listen to God’s breath. -Robert G. Taylor-