circus tent was full of wild and colorful sights, Henri was bored—
until the trapeze artists came out. Then he watched spellbound.
In fact Henri was so fascinated, he decided to go back and see if
he could speak to those high-flying acrobats after the show. As Henri
questioned the head of the family of trapeze artists about the amaz-
ing skill he had acquired, the seasoned performer revealed a secret
Henri had never suspected.
“You know,” he said, “since I am the main flyer in the act and I
can do triple flips, I get all the applause. But I’ll tell you a secret,
Henri. I’m not the hero. The real hero is the catcher. One of the
greatest mistakes I could make in the air would be to try to catch the
catcher. If I moved my arms around or tried to grab for him, we’d
miss the catch. I just have to do my triple and put my arms out and
trust that he will catch me. And when I trust, he always does.”
Nouwen made the analogy that we have many “triples” to do in
our lives, many daily calls for courage. Many of us juggle the re-
sponsibilities of holding down jobs and raising families. Others of us
carry the weight of everyday work responsibilities and decision-
making on our own. Apart from God there is a good chance we
could “miss the catch.” But we are not the heroes of our own stories.
God is the Hero who sent his Son to walk among us. God is the Hero
who sends his Spirit to live through us, giving us the wisdom and
bravery we need. God is the Hero who will catch us if we will but
trust.
Lord my Hero, I put my arms out to you, trusting you to catch me,
believing you will uphold me in all things. Empower me and give me
boldness to speak and act for you. Amen.101 MOST POWERFUL PRAYERS IN THE BI BLE 83