Sometimes Jerry and I walk along railroad tracks and I try
to walk on a rail, but I can’t quite keep my balance. It’s a little beyond me. Then
I reach for Jerry’s hand. If I can even just touch his hand as he walks alongside
me, I walk confidently. Absent his hand, though, I keep falling off.
Sometimes God asks us to perform right at the edge of our
natural ability. Writing a memoir is like trying to balance on that rail. It’s
one thing to feel the impact of my memories; it is something else entirely to find
the words so that others can feel with me. Like a painter, I can see several
images, in my mind’s eye, with my first boyfriend. But I’m struggling to choose
the right scenes and the right words to convey the color of my increasing
disillusionment with him. I feel like I’m walking a rail by myself. I keep
falling off. It’s time to reach for a hand.
Time to reach not only for the unseen Hand, but for the hands
of friends who have committed to pray for my writing. Their prayers will give
me eyes to see that unseen Hand extended toward me. Their prayers will give me
power to touch that hand. And by the power of their prayers, I can walk supernaturally,
holding onto Jesus’ hand.
Are you, too, falling off the rail? Are you losing your
emotional balance? Perhaps you have lost a job. Or you can’t seem to forgive a
neighbor. Is it time to reach for other’s hands? Time to let the prayers of
others give you power to touch the unseen Hand?
Jesus, you have called us. You will see us through. Steady us
on the rail.