I have a friend named Charley Landreth. He's a retired pastor — a longtime friend of our family. About ten years ago, Charley had a stroke and lost his ability to speak. Today he lives in a skilled nursing facility.

And yet he is one of the most joyful people I know. He is deeply loved — not just by family and friends, but by all the staff. He has this inner light that is unmistakable.

How did he get there? I can tell you it didn't just happen. It was cultivated. Over the course of a lifetime, Charley was nourished on something deeper than circumstance. Something that held when everything else was stripped away.

Later in John chapter 6, after Jesus has been teaching some hard things, a number of his followers walk away. They say: this is too difficult. Who can accept it?

And Jesus turns to his closest disciples and asks: Do you want to leave too?

Peter answers for the group. He says: Lord, to whom would we go?

It's not a triumphant declaration. It's almost a shrug. But it might be one of the most honest statements of faith in the entire New Testament.

We've looked around. We've considered the alternatives. And if you don't have the words of deep, lasting life — please, someone, give us something better.

So here’s the invitation. Look around. Test the alternatives. Is it technology? Social media? Politics? The Republican Party? The Democratic Party? Is it a bigger house, a more successful career, more money in the account?

These things aren't nothing. But they will not fill this hunger. They were never made to.

Lord, to whom would we go?

Only you have what we most deeply need.

Prayer: God, we come to you again today. Not because we have it all figured out. But because we have looked around, and we keep coming back to you. Feed us. Nourish something deep in us that circumstances cannot touch. May we cultivate, over the course of our lives, the kind of joy that holds — no matter what, the kind of faith that holds - no matter what. We ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.

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