My kids loved Sesame Street. I did also! Jim Henson’s puppets were a source of endless entertainment in our home. One of my favorite puppets, Count Dracula, was called the Count because he loved to count things. It was a creative way to teach children how to count.
Today’s prayer features another Count. His full name was Count Nikolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf (1700-1760). Count was a common designation in Europe for people of noble background. His parents died early, so he was raised by his grandmother, a devout Christian. By age six, Count Nikolaus came to regard Jesus as his best friend. He would write letters to Jesus and toss them out the castle window to the courtyard below, confident Jesus would retrieve them. When enemy soldiers stormed the castle and found him going about his unusual prayer practice, they were in awe and left him alone. As a fifteen-year-old, he was bullied in school, so he with three classmates formed a club called “The Order of the Mustard Seed.” They wore rings with the engraving, “No man lives unto himself.” They pledged to remain true to Christ, upright in behavior and kind to their fellow students. Count Nikolaus visited a museum at age nineteen and was deeply moved by Domenico Fetti’s Ecce Homo painting of Christ on trial. The artist added the words at the bottom, “This have I suffered for you; now what will you do for me?” That settled it for the Count. No more touring museums and living a cushy life. It was time to do something for Christ.
Tomorrow, I’ll tell you more about this remarkable Christian. Today’s prayer was included in a 1753 Moravian hymnal that Count Nikolaus helped assemble. This table grace, simple enough for children to remember, highlights the last prayer in the Bible, “Come, Lord Jesus” (Rev. 22.20).