How to always be ready for anything that brings life

In the Bible, Abraham pronounced three perfect words of prayer in response to God's call.

Abraham's prayer, "here I am".
When I was a child, I had a couple of really inspired and inspiring Sunday school teachers who had a passion for the Bible. We didn't just read it, we recited it. We learned to identify with the characters.

In fourth and fifth grade I had the indomitable Mrs. Clarke. A project he had started years earlier, a Bible movie, was continuing. In fourth grade he chose me as Abraham.

What does a child of Abraham know? A lot if he can act. Look at the stars, for example, and listen to the promise of God that he would have as many children as there were stars in the sky. A promise that seemed impossible for an old man.

Or listening to God tell you that you should leave the land where you lived and where your people had lived for generations because there was a promised land elsewhere for you. Think about the risk of this. Imagine what faith it would take to follow that promise. Maybe that's why I had the courage to go to college and settle thousands of miles away from my beloved family. Who knows?

Or the most difficult story to understand - still difficult to understand - that God would ask you to sacrifice your son because, well, because God said it.

I remember acting for Mrs. Clarke's Super Eight. We did it in the park and my friend Brian Booth played Isaac. I raised my plastic knife, ready to do the horrible act. And he heard a voice, a heavenly voice. No, God would provide a ram to replace. (Mrs. Clarke made it into a ram movie.)

The words that remained beside me, even in Mrs. Clarke's silent film, were Abraham's response to God. "Abraham, Abraham," says the Lord. Abraham's answer: "Here I am."

Isn't it a perfect prayer for all ages? Isn't that what I say silently as I sit on the sofa first thing in the morning to pray? Isn't that what I hope I can always say when I hear and hear God's call?

There are mysteries in life. There are tragedies. There are moments that we will never understand. But if I can always be ready only with those words, "Here I am", I could always be ready for what life brings.

Thank you, Ms. Clarke, for your wisdom and your Super Eight camera. Here I am.