Why This Picture Makes Me Melt

Yesterday, I spoke in chapel at Harding University (Searcy, Arkansas).

My daughter, Christine, told her son that his “Poppy” was going to speak in chapel and they could watch the live streaming.  She set up her iPad and set the link to the live streaming of chapel.  She left the room.  When she returned, someone was leading prayer on the screen and four year old Brody had his head bowed and eyes closed.

I look at this picture and I melt.

Why?  I think part of the reason lies in who we are.  That picture reminds me that we are God’s children in desperate need of our Father.  We may act as if we are self-sufficient.  We may speak with confidence.  We may even believe we are smarter and brighter than others.  We can become quite cocky and self-assured.

Yet, the truth is that are children in desperate need of our Father.

Maybe this picture moves me because this four year old, with his head bowed and eyes closed, reminds me of how vulnerable and fragile we all are.

Maybe the best we can do today is to simply say, “Our Father who art in Heaven. . . .”