What I Needed
Julian Franklin of Mayhill, NM, USA
Praise the Lord, all you nations!
Extol him, all you peoples!
For great is his steadfast love toward us,
and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever.
Praise the Lord! -Psalm 117
On August 30 as I was headed to the hospital, my head was racing. I was far from calm as I sat in the passenger seat while my wife drove.
Here I was, a young 35-year-old transgender man. “I shouldn’t be going to the hospital to have a heart catheterization done. What will they find?” These and many more similar thoughts were running through my mind. But then an ever-so-small voice said, “Read your Daily Bread; calm your mind.”
So I picked up my phone and opened my Daily Bread. There I was met with a most wonderful gift. Pam Cress shared her struggles of how she felt before going through surgery. She shared the same feelings I was having. In the sudden stillness of the ride, I found God was going with me and had prepared the way before I even knew what I would need. God used so many hands and minds within my church family to make sure what I needed was there at the exact moment I needed it.
I went into the procedure with a sense of calm and came through it just fine.
Prayer Phrase
My ordinary life is a sacred place.
Spiritual Practice
Sacramental Living
“…our everyday ordinary lives are also sacred places, or put another way, the sacred place of our living. As dwellers within the Sacredness of Creation, there is potential to be aware and appreciate the holy within the ordinary. You may remember times when it felt like you were seeing the world through God’s eyes. That’s a good description for what it means to live sacramentally-to sense divine Spirit amid daily activities.” -Jane M. Gardner, “Sacramental Living,” September/October 2019 Herald, p. 5
How are you invited to live sacramentally today?
Today’s Prayer for Peace
Engage in a daily practice of praying for peace in our world. Click here to read today’s prayer and be part of this practice of peace.
