Author Archives: karbly

Living between the Continuums
David Nii, Council of Twelve Apostles

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

Last year we installed a high-speed gigabyte Internet line into our home. The faster speed allowed our household to better adapt to a new digital home environment: videoconferencing, media streaming, electronic communication, cloud-based data storage, smart home. As I reflect on the Lenten journey and my movement toward Jesus, the peaceful One, I acknowledge the seeming contradiction of my ever-increasing reliance on technology and the contemplative journey of self-examination and shedding of what is not necessary for abundant life. As with many others, I am in the tension of moving towards newness without losing what is most valuable in the old. I live in this tension of feeling the press of doing and accomplishing more while acknowledging the need for thoughtful and deliberate reflection on God’s call to sabbath.

The more I ponder these tensions, the more I conclude our call is to live somewhere in between these continuums. Neither abandoning technology nor accelerating our reach for speed, efficiency, and busyness is our best response to the call of God. Neither setting aside all old traditions nor being limited by them is how we best take our next life steps. Our journey towards shalom, life lived as God envisions for us, seems imbedded in this in-betweenness of new and old, fast and slow, more and less. Perhaps these differences are less linear continuums and more descriptive of a multi-dimensional array of possibilities. The Lenten journey is a pause in our present assumptions of what is most valuable and necessary and an invitation to examine and respond to the insights God continues to reveal to us, individually and collectively.

So, will my high-speed Internet help me move closer to Jesus? I believe the truthful answer is, “Maybe.” My journey of moving toward God’s shalom is faithfully lived in an ongoing balancing of many possibilities. Observing Lent is valuable for me as I confess uncertainty while affirming the importance of pondering and living in these questions. New life is not best experienced in a discovery of certainty but experienced as an affirmation of reliance on God.

Prayer Phrase

Are we moving toward Jesus, the peaceful One?

Spiritual Practice

Gospel Contemplation (Mark 1:9-11)

Each week during Lent, you are invited to pray with a different gospel story from the life of Christ. Use your senses and imagination to enter the text. Allow it to come to life in you, observing details, noticing interactions, even engaging in dialogue. Notice where you find yourself in the story and how you feel about what is happening. Notice what it evokes in you or invites of you. Take time to journal or enter silent prayer to reflect on your experience and to sense where the Spirit may be leading you through this scriptural encounter.

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.

Click here to comment or read online.

Taking Stock and Cleaning House
Jane M. Gardner, presiding evangelist

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
  be acceptable to you,
  O LORD, my rock and my redeemer. -Psalm 19:14

Some people are “pitchers” and others are “savers.” This is based on a person’s natural tendency to pitch, throw away, and purge things as opposed to saving them. I can see an alignment of “pitchers” with the Lenten season-a period of examination and winnowing that results in going deeper into discipleship. Said another way, Lent is a time to take stock and clean house.

We recently cleaned out our garage. I love the way it felt to purge and clean! In a back corner of the garage there was a trunk that had been placed there when we moved in-something I planned to get to in the future. Twenty years later we couldn’t even remember what was in the trunk.

As we sifted through the contents, it was a journey through our memories-accomplishments, friendships, pictures, and papers that marked significant moments. I found a letter my mom wrote to me when I was a young mother. The words were a blessing, then and now. As things we “saved,” these collected memories are also integral to the Lenten journey. We come into the Lenten season with all we are and what has shaped us.

During this Lenten season, may we experience pitching and saving-pitching those things that take us away from Jesus, the peaceful One, and saving the DNA of our past on which to build our future discipleship. With the Psalmist we humbly make this Lenten plea as we follow Jesus toward Jerusalem: “Let the words of my mouth and meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer” (Psalm 19:14).

Prayer Phrase

Are we moving toward Jesus, the peaceful One?

Spiritual Practice

Gospel Contemplation (Mark 1:9-11)

Each week during Lent, you are invited to pray with a different gospel story from the life of Christ. Use your senses and imagination to enter the text. Allow it to come to life in you, observing details, noticing interactions, even engaging in dialogue. Notice where you find yourself in the story and how you feel about what is happening. Notice what it evokes in you or invites of you. Take time to journal or enter silent prayer to reflect on your experience and to sense where the Spirit may be leading you through this scriptural encounter.

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.

Click here to comment or read online.

With Authenticity and Compassion
Joann Fisher of Boise, ID, USA

Let the church be admonished that the times are portentous and demand faithful adherence to the faith and work of the church, that mankind may be blessed by and find peace in those religiously social reforms and relationships which have been divinely imposed as a great task of achievement. -Doctrine and Covenants 137:6a

As I considered my response to the Lenten season of 2021, I must acknowledge that I have been profoundly shaped by the experiences of 2020. In some ways it feels as though we have been in a Lenten process for a while. In the past, I have heard others say, “I have given up chocolate (or you fill in the blank) for Lent.” Because of the pandemic, we have been forced to alter our usual routines and have “given up” socializing, in-person ministry, vacations, and gatherings for milestone life events. We have had to face questions of inequities; who and what is essential; and where to invest our time, talent, and treasure in a world with so many needs.

For me, the Lenten season feels oddly familiar as well as more focused this year. As I continue to have my usual daily activities altered, I find myself wrestling with whether I am living into whom I feel called to be. “Am I moving toward Jesus, the peaceful One?”

Perhaps being less busy in one respect invites us to examine how we have avoided difficult questions regarding the way we have filled our days in the past. Questions like, why am I so upset with those who disagree with my point of view? Do I have prejudices that I may be afraid to admit? Am I willing to do the work it will take to change? Perhaps we need to have the courage to be honest and the compassion to listen deeply-not only with others but with ourselves. It is with authenticity and compassion that our answers will come. Answers to small questions as well as big ones will consistently point us toward Jesus, if that is our desire.

Let us move toward Jesus, the peaceful One, together. Not only for our sake, but for the sake of the world.

Prayer Phrase

Are we moving toward Jesus, the peaceful One?

Spiritual Practice

Gospel Contemplation (Mark 1:9-11)

Each week during Lent, you are invited to pray with a different gospel story from the life of Christ. Use your senses and imagination to enter the text. Allow it to come to life in you, observing details, noticing interactions, even engaging in dialogue. Notice where you find yourself in the story and how you feel about what is happening. Notice what it evokes in you or invites of you. Take time to journal or enter silent prayer to reflect on your experience and to sense where the Spirit may be leading you through this scriptural encounter.

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.

Click here to comment or read online.

Peace Prayer for an Insurrection
Susan Oxley of Seattle, WA, USA

For I will restore health to you,
  and your wounds I will heal,
says the LORD…Thus says the LORD:
I am going to restore the fortunes of the tents of Jacob,
  and have compassion on his dwellings;
the city shall be rebuilt upon its mound,
  and the citadel set on its rightful site….
And you shall be my people,
  and I will be your God. -Jeremiah 30:17a, 18, 22

On January 6, I heard with shock and fear of the assault on the Capitol building in Washington, D.C. The senators and representatives were being evacuated, the work of Congress halted, and damage to the windows, chambers, and offices was underway. The outcome of the day’s events was still uncertain, and our government appeared to be threatened from within.

How do I pray in the rising chaos and uncertainty? Jesus said, “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you” (Luke 6:27-28). One meaning of “love” in the ancient world was desiring good for someone with no strings attached. Could I desire good for those who were breaking into the Capitol and truly mean it?

“God of grace, you know all things,” I prayed. “These are your people, both those who do violence and those who are injured and terrorized. I place them all into your loving arms for a blessing. Enter their hearts and help them to know you are present. Turn their thoughts from violence to peace and wholeness. Bring about good in their lives in spite of their personal choices and actions. God, only you can bring a blessing out of this conflict.”

As I prayed, my own heart stopped racing, and I felt a deep inner peace. God’s reassurance of grace, faithfulness, and abiding presence calmed and strengthened me. I knew the future was still uncertain, with no guarantee that the violence was over. Divisiveness would continue to influence the transition to a new presidency and hinder the nation’s healing. Even so, I felt assured that God would not abandon us. Whether we lived up to the highest and best in us or not, God would continue to act in the world. And there would always be opportunities to join God in transforming and gracing the world.

I offered a second prayer. “God, help me to be open and trusting. Transform my judgment and condemnation into love for all people and a desire for good in their lives. Help me be an instrument of the peace of Christ. Amen.”

Prayer Phrase

Are we moving toward Jesus, the peaceful One?

Spiritual Practice

Gospel Contemplation (Mark 1:9-11)

Each week during Lent, you are invited to pray with a different gospel story from the life of Christ. Use your senses and imagination to enter the text. Allow it to come to life in you, observing details, noticing interactions, even engaging in dialogue. Notice where you find yourself in the story and how you feel about what is happening. Notice what it evokes in you or invites of you. Take time to journal or enter silent prayer to reflect on your experience and to sense where the Spirit may be leading you through this scriptural encounter.

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.

Click here to comment or read online.

Should I Fast, or Should I Rejoice?
Michael Botts of Hannover, Germany

He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it.  -Mark 8:34-35

A good dictionary will tell you that Lent is a time of fasting and penitence, beginning on Ash Wednesday and lasting 40 weekdays to Easter. I live in Germany, and the German word for Lent is “Fastenzeit,” which literally means a time of fasting. A good dictionary will also tell you that the word Lent comes from the Old English lencten, which means springtime, or the time when days lengthen, a time of joy and hope.

It wasn’t until I moved to Germany in the 70’s that I learned what Fastenzeit was. So, for the past almost 50 years, fasting and penitence has been a part of my experience at this time of the year. Here, Lent tends to be a time where rejoicing is kept to a minimum, like we are trying to save it all up until Easter morning. This is much different from the Advent season, where candles and lights and the hurry-scurry leading up to Christmas morning are joyful and full of hope. Lent is quiet and a bit more sober time.

But I can’t help that when springtime starts popping out, lilies of the valley show their little white heads, tulips begin to spread their colorful wings, the birds chirp earlier and earlier each morning, and the sun leaves winter behind and warms my face, it is hard for me to keep my head bowed in fasting and penance, even if it is Lent.

Part of me wants to be reminded of how fasting helps me recognize how many people on this planet don’t have many of the good things I do, such as peace, enough to eat, and a roof over my head. The other part of me wants to be a flower and turn my face to the sun. Is it Fastenzeit, or is it the time when days lengthen? Should I fast, or should I rejoice?

Maybe we can do both. Maybe it is wrong to think we can only do one thing at a time. Ecclesiastes 3 says there is a season for everything, and a time for every matter under heaven; but we can sometimes do two things at the same time. While it may be hard to break down and build up simultaneously, we can fast and be penitent; and we can yet have an inward joy, a joy that reminds us that spring brings new life, both in God’s nature, and in God’s son.

Lent doesn’t keep us from smiling at someone. Lent doesn’t keep us from singing songs of joy. Lent doesn’t forbid us to dance with our grandchildren (or grandparents) or to visit with friends. So, while Lent does remind us to be humble and meek, we can also celebrate life at the same time. After we turn our countenance downward in contemplation and prayer, we can raise our faces to the heavens in thanksgiving and prayer.

Both are possible.

Prayer Phrase

Are we moving toward Jesus, the peaceful One?

Spiritual Practice

Gospel Contemplation (Mark 1:9-11)

Each week during Lent, you are invited to pray with a different gospel story from the life of Christ. Use your senses and imagination to enter the text. Allow it to come to life in you, observing details, noticing interactions, even engaging in dialogue. Notice where you find yourself in the story and how you feel about what is happening. Notice what it evokes in you or invites of you. Take time to journal or enter silent prayer to reflect on your experience and to sense where the Spirit may be leading you through this scriptural encounter.

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.

Click here to comment or read online.

Fear Not and Follow Me
Bob Kyser of Independence, MO, USA

Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi; and on the way he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” And they answered him, “John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.” He asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him, “You are the Messiah.”  -Mark 8:27-29

I was having a sleepless night worrying about the outcome of a congregational meeting the next day. When morning finally came, I was almost physically ill with anxiety and perhaps even fear.

I went to the church building early to participate in a priesthood meeting in preparation for the congregational meeting later in the day. I had hoped to find some peace of mind. A few minutes later as people were gathering, a friend entered the room. She walked directly to where I was sitting and said, “The word of the Lord to you today is fear not and follow me.”

My prayers had been answered. I was not alone in facing the challenges of that day. The congregation was experiencing significant conflict. The meeting that I had feared was not an easy one. As those attending the meeting sat in a circle and talked, my fears were replaced with hope.

More recently, in the midst of the global pandemic, I was asked to officiate at a friend’s funeral. My initial reaction was to decline given exposure to those coming from various locations to celebrate the life of their loved one. Assured that health protocols would be in place, I agreed to provide ministry. From that moment forward, I felt a sense of peace and assurance. Anxiety, worry, fear vanished, replaced again by a sense of peace. I realized I was not alone. The preparation went well, and all were blessed by the Spirit of Love and Comfort.

In some cultures of the world, there is a Lenten practice of giving up something. I have always felt it important “to take on something new,” not only for 40 days but beyond.

When I reflect on current life challenges and this Lenten time of remembering and reconnecting with Jesus-crucifixion and resurrection-the choice is ever present: worry, anxiety, and fear or hope and a sense of peace.

My commitment is to continually strive to embrace the peace that Jesus has given, not being unduly troubled, and not allowing fear to enter my heart. (John 14:27ff).

Staying close to Jesus, we are never alone. Let’s keep moving toward Jesus together.

Prayer Phrase

Are we moving toward Jesus, the peaceful One?

Spiritual Practice

Gospel Contemplation (Mark 1:9-11)

Each week during Lent, you are invited to pray with a different gospel story from the life of Christ. Use your senses and imagination to enter the text. Allow it to come to life in you, observing details, noticing interactions, even engaging in dialogue. Notice where you find yourself in the story and how you feel about what is happening. Notice what it evokes in you or invites of you. Take time to journal or enter silent prayer to reflect on your experience and to sense where the Spirit may be leading you through this scriptural encounter.

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.

Click here to comment or read online.

“Are we moving toward Jesus, the peaceful One?”
Karin Peter, president of seventy

As for me, I would seek God,
and to God I would commit my cause.
He does great things and unsearchable,
marvellous things without number.
He gives rain on the earth
and sends waters on the fields;
he sets on high those who are lowly,
and those who mourn are lifted to safety.
So the poor have hope,
and injustice shuts its mouth.  -Job 5:8-11, 16

I was participating in a spiritual formation meditation as part of a women’s online retreat. During the meditation, my imagination took me to aboard a ship. The old-mast-and-sails-and-rigging kind of ship. As I descended into the dark cargo hold in the belly of the ship, I experienced a sense of awareness of this phrase: “Carry your own cargo.” As I sat with that phrase for a while, I began to think of how often I have carried the cargo of others. Someone else’s expectation of what I should do or be, criticisms or grievances that are hard to release, societal norms for women “my age.”

When I reflect on moving toward Jesus, the peaceful One, it is easy to point toward ministries and practices in which I engage that lead to more peaceful, reconciled relationships with others. But more significantly, this past year moving towards Jesus, the peaceful One, has meant looking inward to reconcile my own self more fully in restoring, life-giving ways, to carry my own cargo. It’s an interesting metaphor, this sailing ship. One I continue to reflect upon as I journey with Jesus this Lenten Season.

Prayer Phrase

Are we moving toward Jesus, the peaceful One?

Spiritual Practice

Gospel Contemplation (Mark 1:9-11)

Each week during Lent, you are invited to pray with a different gospel story from the life of Christ. Use your senses and imagination to enter the text. Allow it to come to life in you, observing details, noticing interactions, even engaging in dialogue. Notice where you find yourself in the story and how you feel about what is happening. Notice what it evokes in you or invites of you. Take time to journal or enter silent prayer to reflect on your experience and to sense where the Spirit may be leading you through this scriptural encounter.

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.

Click here to comment or read online.

Lent-A Spiritual Cleaning
Stassi Cramm, First Presidency

God is calling for a prophetic community to emerge, drawn from the nations of the world, that is characterized by uncommon devotion to the compassion and peace of God revealed in Jesus Christ. Through divine grace and wisdom, this faith community has been given abundant gifts, resources, and opportunities to equip it to become such a people. Chief among these is the power of community in Christ expressed locally in distinctive fashions while upholding a unity of vision, foundational beliefs, and mission throughout the world.  -Doctrine and Covenants 163:11a

I remember entering Lent during 2020 as we had just introduced the guiding question “Are we moving towards Jesus, the peaceful One?” We were still near the beginning of what turned out to be an unimaginable year. Then, part way through Lent, we closed the Temple, sent people home to work remotely, and experienced a new level of isolation with stay-at-home orders.

This unfolding experience gave a whole new meaning to the image of the Israelites wandering in the desert for forty years and Jesus withdrawing into the wilderness for forty days. Now, here we are a year later; and, in many countries, we are still struggling as people scramble to make the COVID-19 vaccine available to everyone. I keep asking myself how am I-how are we-being shaped by the experiences of this very unusual time that is not yet over?

For me, Lent is a time of spiritual cleaning-like spring cleaning-only focused on my life as a disciple instead of my home. As I move through this forty-day journey of intentional reflection, I consider what clutter has entered my life that distracts me from faithful discipleship. The guiding question provides a litmus test for prioritizing what is most important in helping me not only move closer to Jesus, the peaceful One, but also embody His mission. Further, the struggles of the past year serve in shaping my perspective and informing my sense of call.

I confess I have room to grow in my understanding of who Jesus, the peaceful One, really was as shared through the Gospels. It is too easy for me to burden Jesus with who I want him to be instead of allowing his ministry to push me to new levels of faithfulness and discipleship. Even as I anxiously await a time where we can safely be together as families, congregations, and a world church, I am recognizing that being present in the world comes with both new opportunities and challenges to live Christ’s mission in tangible, life-giving ways that share the peace of Christ with ALL people AND creation.

Prayer Phrase

Are we moving toward Jesus, the peaceful One?

Spiritual Practice

Gospel Contemplation (Mark 1:9-11)

Each week during Lent, you are invited to pray with a different gospel story from the life of Christ. Use your senses and imagination to enter the text. Allow it to come to life in you, observing details, noticing interactions, even engaging in dialogue. Notice where you find yourself in the story and how you feel about what is happening. Notice what it evokes in you or invites of you. Take time to journal or enter silent prayer to reflect on your experience and to sense where the Spirit may be leading you through this scriptural encounter.

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.

Click here to comment or read online.

One More Sleepless Night
Dan Gregory of Edina, M N, USA

I cry aloud to God, aloud to God, that he may hear me.
In the day of my trouble I seek the Lord; in the night my hand is stretched out without wearying; my soul refuses to be comforted.
I will call to mind the deeds of the Lord; I will remember your wonders of old.
I will meditate on all your work, and muse on your mighty deeds.
Your way, O God, is holy. What god is so great as our God?  -Psalm 77:1-2, 11-13a

I couldn’t sleep last night.

The injustice of our society pangs my heart.
My prayers were groans of desperation.
While many grieve, too many gloat.
Hatred engulfs more lives, and we lose count.
Our hearts hold vigil thru the night for those who will not be coming home.

I am tired.

The weight of hundreds of years pressed into momentary decisions.
The ostracized being silenced for comfort.
Desperate pleas ignored, rejected, scoffed at.
One more post where words are necessary yet insufficient.

When will we learn?
When can our hearts listen?
When might the cries of our siblings pierce our shallow securities?
When all that fills our ears is the sickening crack of gunfire, how can we hear the trembling left in its wake?

How long, O Lord?!
How long will we turn away?
How long can we stand when the weight of fear presses in upon us?
How long ’til your children awaken?
How long will the call for justice go unanswered?

How long are we to suffer?

At least one more sleepless night, it seems.

Prayer Phrase

Are we moving toward Jesus, the peaceful One?

Spiritual Practice

Gospel Contemplation (Mark 1:9-11)

Each week during Lent, you are invited to pray with a different gospel story from the life of Christ. Use your senses and imagination to enter the text. Allow it to come to life in you, observing details, noticing interactions, even engaging in dialogue. Notice where you find yourself in the story and how you feel about what is happening. Notice what it evokes in you or invites of you. Take time to journal or enter silent prayer to reflect on your experience and to sense where the Spirit may be leading you through this scriptural encounter.

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.

Click here to comment or read online.

One Step Closer to Peace
Tammy Lindle Lewis of Renton, WA, USA

Yet even now, says the Lord,
return to me with all your heart,
with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;
rend your hearts and not your clothing.
Return to the Lord, your God,
for he is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love,
and relents from punishing.  -Joel 2:12-13

I reluctantly admit that I struggle with the practice of moving toward peacefulness of any kind. Upended by the events of 2020, I’ve been fearful, dismayed, angry, and at odds with long-time friends. I’m saddened by those whose social interpretation of the gospel is so different from mine.

I wrestle with a question posed by a member of my congregation: What if our best days are behind us and this is our future reality? What if there isn’t anything better coming and we must live behind masks, separated by disease, physically distanced, weakened by closed businesses and borders, struggling with economic collapse, food insecurity, corruption and power grabs, social unrest, racism, devasting climate change, strained healthcare and educational systems, and lack of effective leadership? The question sounds like facing the ultimate midlife crisis…is this all that’s left? Where is the shining city on the hill? Where are the communities of joy, hope, love, and peace that we talk, sing, and pray about? What is still possible? How will the church give voice to these many issues? What is my role? Will my voice proclaim peace amid the fear, dismay, and anger? And whispering through all of this is the question begging to be wrestled with instead: Am I moving toward Jesus, the peaceful One?

I’m finding the echoes of that question come to the surface more quickly, sometimes before I act or speak. I’m slowing down and remembering to listen, read, and pray. I remind myself that I’m not always right and that I don’t always need to share my opinion. I’m joining online sessions to learn with others as we discuss climate and racial justice and a variety of topics related to peace. I’m remembering to breathe and to forgive my missteps. I’m finding ways to be better and healthier in my soul by eating, sleeping, and spending time and money in more responsible ways.

I am called first to love God and love my neighbor. I’m called to represent Christ in servant leadership, to proclaim and promote justice and peacemaking, to foster spiritual growth and wholeness, and to build bridges between people. When I remember this calling, I realize there is no time to spend in fear, dismay, and anger; and I move one step closer to peace.

Prayer Phrase

Are we moving toward Jesus, the peaceful One?

Spiritual Practice

Gospel Contemplation (Mark 1:9-11)

Each week during Lent, you are invited to pray with a different gospel story from the life of Christ. Use your senses and imagination to enter the text. Allow it to come to life in you, observing details, noticing interactions, even engaging in dialogue. Notice where you find yourself in the story and how you feel about what is happening. Notice what it evokes in you or invites of you. Take time to journal or enter silent prayer to reflect on your experience and to sense where the Spirit may be leading you through this scriptural encounter.

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.

Click here to comment or read online.