“Helpless Look To Thee For Grace”

Dick and Rick Hoyt are a father-and-son team from Massachusetts who together compete just about continuously in marathon races. And if they’re not in a marathon they are in a triathlon — that daunting, almost superhuman, combination of 26.2 miles of running, 112 miles of bicycling, and 2.4 miles of swimming. Together they have climbed mountains, and once trekked 3,735 miles across America.

 

It’s a remarkable record of exertion — all the more so when you consider that Rick can’t walk or talk.

 

For the past twenty five years or more Dick, who is 65, has pushed and pulled his son across the country and over hundreds of finish lines. When Dick runs, Rick is in a wheelchair that Dick is pushing. When Dick cycles, Rick is in the seat-pod from his wheelchair, attached to the front of the bike. When Dick swims, Rick is in a small but heavy, firmly stabilized boat being pulled by Dick.

 

This is not a new story to most of you. You have probably seen news reports or specials about the closeness of this father and son team. Below is a video that I hope you will take a few minutes to look at and listen to. It is not just the retelling of their story. The music uses their visual images to teach a much greater lesson. It is a lesson about our own redemption. It tells your story and my story. As I looked at this video a verse from an old song came to mind.

 

“Nothing in my hand I bring, simply to the cross I cling; naked, come to thee for dress; helpless, look to thee for grace; foul, I to the fountain fly; wash me, Savior, or I die.”