Author Archives: karbly

The Everlasting Covenant
David Anderson, president of the High Priest Quorum

Make me to know your ways, O Lord;
teach me your paths.
Lead me in your truth, and teach me,
for you are the God of my salvation;
for you I wait all day long.  -Psalm 25:4-5

Today is the first Sunday in Lent. From last Wednesday to the Saturday before Easter, we observe preparation for Easter. Many of us pray, engage more intently in spiritual formation, practice forms of self-denial, and repent of areas of our lives that hinder us from drawing closer to and going deeper with God.

At the heart of this endeavor is an understanding of today’s theme: the everlasting covenant that God has made with humanity and creation. God has a covenantal, sacred relationship with each of us. We-everyone in our world-are created in God’s image, are of inestimable worth, and are beloved children of God.

I recently had surgery that required a general anesthetic. Just before application of the drug that would render me unconscious, I noticed the anesthesiologist patted me gently and reassuringly on the shoulder. In a sterile, cold, and austere operating room, she reached out to me with compassion and hope. I felt deeply touched by her simple act and knew I was under her professional care-and not alone.

Like my anesthesiologist, God reaches out to connect with each of us. We see and feel this Spirit through our spiritual practices, amid our sacred relationships, and within our worship. God’s everlasting covenant means God is with us in our journey. We are not alone. God’s covenant and loving kindness do not guarantee we will avoid suffering, nor do they promise wealth, health, or prosperity. Rather, we are assured of God’s presence, love, and peace. God’s loving mercy, grace, and generosity extend freely to all. As recipients, we become a people of hope. In turn, through acts of kindness, service to others, hospitality, and invitation, we share this hope.

As we continue in Lent, may we listen to the loving, caring, and gentle presence of God and then share it with others. Like my anesthesiologist, may we give “reassuring pats” to all we meet. God loves each of us deeply and wants us to share this sacred everlasting covenant.

Prayer Phrase

Are we moving toward Jesus, the peaceful One?

Spiritual Practice

Gospel Contemplation (Matthew 4:1-11)

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.

World Day of Social Justice
Kris Judd of Des Moines, IA, USA

Therefore they gave thanks to the Lord their God; and they fasted much and prayed much, and they worshiped God with exceedingly great joy.  -Alma 21:2

Little did we know in January 2020 the challenge and invitation of the church’s guiding question, “Are we moving toward Jesus, the peaceful One?” Last year at this time, my response was, “Of course.” My stable, relatively serene life offered me much time for prayer, reflection, and good deeds; and I tend to be conflict avoidant with family, friends, and strangers. I’m a good person. I try to be peaceful.

And yet, the past year offered me daily invitations to a wrestling match with Jesus, the peaceful One. The tension between a contemplative life and the fight for justice led me to challenging conversations and uncomfortable relationships. I addressed misinformation and disinformation and received responses from people I barely know that offended, angered, and wounded me. I felt very unsure of how to respond with honesty and integrity. Surely Jesus, the peaceful One, would not be so angry, so outraged by what was happening socially, racially, economically, and politically. Jesus proclaimed and lived the way of peace, but can there be peace without justice? And can we address injustice while remaining peaceful?

Wise men and women from our Christian tradition as well as from others have addressed this very real tension through prayer practices that include, among others, centering prayer, meditation, and silence. These practices offer a graceful exit for the righteously indignant ego, allowing it to step away for a bit, and to gain a glimpse of God’s perspective. My experience in such practices leads to a softened and compassionate heart, for both the oppressed and oppressors, for the just and unjust, for those on one side of the argument as well as the other. The injustices still need to be addressed, but responses are no longer from indignation, but from connectedness. It truly is an inward/outward journey.

Sadly, in 2021 the injustices will continue to occur as will the wrestling match with and for Jesus. But we’ve been invited into postures, attitudes, and practices that expand our capacity to live with the tension of being peace-full in peace-less times.
I am grateful that the question remains, “Are we moving closer to Jesus, the peaceful One?” and not, “Have we arrived?”

Prayer Phrase

Are we moving toward Jesus, the peaceful One?

Spiritual Practice

Gospel Contemplation (Matthew 4:1-11)

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.

Blessings of Promise
Carla Long, Latter Day Seeker Minister

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.  -Romans 15:13

I am an extrovert by nature. In fact, I had to take some personality tests for a job that I was interviewing for, and the interviewer came back to me and said that my extrovertness was higher than anyone she had ever encountered. If I am by myself for too long, I become just a lump on the couch. I can barely move because I get so much of my energy from other people.

So, needless to say, 2020 was a difficult year for me. We had a newborn baby; and since I was the source of all of his nutrition, I knew that I had to keep myself safe for him. We started sheltering in place on Thursday, March 12, and I remember thinking, “Oh, my goodness! It’s going to be a LOOOOONG weekend if we can’t go anywhere.” And then that weekend stretched and stretched and stretched into the rest of the year, and more.

Since I couldn’t be with the people that I loved-my extended family, my congregation, my friends-I knew that I needed to be more in tune with God and with my body. I needed to listen to both if I was going to make it through this time of social distancing. I made myself a promise that every time someone entered my mind and my heart, I was going to reach out. I was going to, if nothing else, message them and let them know that I was holding space for them.

I cannot tell you how many times that promise blessed me. It would be almost impossible to keep up with everyone in my congregation, even though, as a pastor, I feel that deeply. So, it was freeing to take that off myself and trust that God knows more than I do. My job is to be open and to believe that “opportunities abound in our daily lives if we choose to see them” even when we don’t see anyone but our immediate family.

May God continue to work in and through us in whatever ways we allow God to do.

Prayer Phrase

Are we moving toward Jesus, the peaceful One?

Spiritual Practice

Gospel Contemplation (Matthew 4:1-11)

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.

Contemplation with Jesus in the Wilderness
Katie Harmon-McLaughlin, World Church Spiritual Formation Team lead

Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice,  to undo the thongs of the yoke,
to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke?
Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house;
when you see the naked, to cover them, and not to hide yourself from your own kin?
Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up quickly;
your vindicator shall go before you, the glory of the Lord shall be your rearguard.
Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry for help, and he will say, Here I am. -Isaiah 58:6-9

I am sitting in the desert with Jesus. We are famished and tired, sweat baked onto our skin from days of high heat, dry air, no option of bathing. As the temptations unfold before us, I ponder momentarily: Is Jesus foolish or wise for turning down all these things I crave?

Hungering with him, he turns away our chance for bread. My stomach growls, and I grow irritated. He is gentle and steadfast in his explanations. “Wait for what really sustains,” he encourages. I feel my unsettledness turning slowly to ease. An inner strength begins to form each time we say “no” aloud. How many times in my life has the urge of the instant taken the place of a patient nourishing? This resistance is a spiritual act.

A second time, we are tempted with invincibility, the refusal to acknowledge our human vulnerability. We could make ourselves into gods, untouched by the bounds of mortality. As we speak aloud our “no,” I am flooded with the realization that I often want and try to be more than I really am. Jesus places a hand on my knee, affirming, “You are enough. To live into your full capacity is to also know and respect your limits.” The ease within grows deeper. There’s no need to throw myself against the rocks of busyness or achievement to prove that I can withstand the fall.

A third time, we are tempted with all the power, riches, and glory we could ever imagine. I thought I was becoming well practiced in this sacred resistance, but my ego is aroused. “You could be successful!” it says, “Don’t lose this chance to have all this influence!” I begin to justify how the yes might be ok this time, “But, Jesus, we should consider this one! Think of all the good we could do if only we had this power!”

Yet again, gentle and persistent, he offers a sacred no in response. “God’s kingdom,” he says, “cannot be given or taken, only lived. It belongs not to one, but to all. The road to its gate is not success, but humility.”

We sit together in silence, a strength forming. The temptations may continue coming, but we no longer notice. We enter into that richest space that cannot be bought. After a time, we get up and walk toward the city with clarity of heart, reordered priorities and passions. We move together toward the call that beckons, the deepest yes emerging, now free to respond.

Prayer Phrase

Are we moving toward Jesus, the peaceful One?

Spiritual Practice

Gospel Contemplation (Matthew 4:1-11)

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.

Ash Wednesday
Katie Harmon-McLaughlin, World Church Spiritual Formation Team lead

And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
And whenever you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces so as to show others that they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that your fasting may be seen not by others but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.  -Matthew 6:5, 6, 16-18

Today is Ash Wednesday, the day in the Christian calendar that signals the beginning of the Lenten season. This is an intentional time to journey with Christians from many traditions as we examine our lives, deepen our commitment to discipleship, and make our way with Jesus from the wilderness to the cross. The symbol of ashes has its origins in the Hebrew scriptures as a sign of humility, mortality, and a willingness to admit our utter human creatureliness in the midst of the Eternal God from which we are made and by which we are sustained.

Ashes to ashes. Dust to dust. We are made from this Earth and to this Earth we will return. There is a freedom in remembering this. It highlights what really matters, re-orders our priorities and passions. In cultures unceasing in the message that we need to be more than what we are, this message can be a welcome relief. It may even come with humility of lighthearted laughter, “Oh! I forgot I’m not God! What a relief!”

This year we journey through Lent as the church has been focused on the guiding question, “Are we moving toward Jesus, the peaceful One?” This season feels like an especially significant time to be asking this question together. While it is important to focus on our actions, our responses, our life together, the question directly invites us to place our focus on Jesus-his priorities, his mission, his life and death and what that means for us and our world. Where is Jesus leading us? What does Jesus, the peaceful One, invite? Are we willing to follow where he will lead? Can we join him in the wilderness and release what restricts us so that we can embrace a deeper calling? Slowly, the long journey of Lent is a gift of growing in freedom for faithfulness to follow wherever the peaceful One will lead.

Ashes to ashes. Dust to dust. God, we are yours.

Prayer Phrase

Are we moving toward Jesus, the peaceful One?

Spiritual Practice

Gospel Contemplation (Matthew 4:1-11)

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.

Our Weakness
Brandon Neloms of Pooler, GA, USA

You are called to create pathways in the world for peace in Christ to be relationally ad culturally incarnate. The Hope of Zion is realized when the vision of Christ is embodied in communities of generosity, justice, and peacefulness. Above all else, strive to be faithful to Christ’s vision of the peaceable Kingdom of God on earth. Courageously challenge cultural, political, and religious trends that are contrary to the reconciling and restoring purposes of God. Pursue peace.  -Doctrine and Covenants 163:3a-b

Earlier this year, I was preparing questions to ask applicants for a new position we needed to fill for my office in Savannah, Georgia. They were all standard questions, plus some that were specific to the job for which they were applying. This day, the question on strengths and weaknesses really stuck out to me. I really couldn’t shake how no one truly gave us a weakness. All applicants would give strengths and try to convince us it was a weakness, even after I tried to assure them it wouldn’t prevent them from getting the job. It was the same kinds of answers over and over that day. I began to get frustrated because, if they weren’t willing to tell the truth, how could I genuinely know the areas they needed to improve? In the end the one or two people who were willing to be honest about their weaknesses allowed for a deeper and more open interview, which in turn resulted in one of them getting the position.

This day made me think of myself and how most of us are moving along in life not willing to recognize the areas we need to improve. Whether it’s in our relationships, on our job, or even within ourselves, we should be willing to admit to ourselves that we have deficiencies that only God can fix.

Some say the first step in fixing a problem is admitting there is a problem. It says in 2 Corinthians 12:9, “…My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.” This shows us that admitting weakness is the first step toward God’s power.

I can tell you that, when I finally told God I can’t do it on my own, I realized how much God wanted to help me. My pride blocked God’s blessings. Through admitting my weakness in certain areas of my life, God’s power has made me strong. I assure you, only God can take your greatest weakness and make it your greatest strength. I promise there is no weakness in that fact.

Prayer Phrase

Are we moving toward Jesus, the peaceful One?

Spiritual Practice

Breathing God’s Compassion

Light a candle and sit quietly, reflecting on the fire and light of God. Pay attention to your breathing and let it become calmer and deeper as you focus on God’s presence. Ask God to breathe in you. Image each breath carrying the light of God into your lungs, bloodstream, and every cell in your body until God’s Spirit fills you. Now imagine breathing out God’s compassion and grace each time you exhale. Pray to have the Spirit of Christ radiate from your life like the gentle flame of a candle.

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.

Holy Curiosity
Dan Gregory of Edina, MN, USA

The Lord said to Moses: Write these words; in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel.
Moses came down from Mount Sinai. As he came down from the mountain with the two tablets of the covenant in his hand, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God. When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, the skin of his face was shining, and they were afraid to come near him. But Moses called to them; and Aaron and all the leaders of the congregation returned to him, and Moses spoke with them. Afterwards all the Israelites came near, and he gave them in commandment all that the Lord had spoken with him on Mount Sinai.  -Exodus 34:27, 29-32

The curiosity Jesus exhibits never ceases to amaze me. Time after time, he metaphorically pulls up a chair when he meets a new person and says, “Tell me about you.” And he listens. He asks questions. He never tells anyone their experience is invalid. His curiosity extends to “I wonder if…” as he invites them forward, but his only demands are to those who think they have it all figured out already.

Holy curiosity is challenging. It’s disruptive. It requires discipline.

And it’s redemptive.

Because sometimes, if we listen long enough, if we’re curious enough to learn the how and why behind the who, we can reach breakthroughs. We can establish pathways of thinking that hadn’t been possible before. We can invite curiosity in others and nurture it into a better way forward.

How do we develop healthier questions? How do we place ourselves in positions to listen with our hearts? How do we pull up chairs and say, “Tell me about you”?

Curiosity: Pass It On.

Prayer Phrase

Are we moving toward Jesus, the peaceful One?

Spiritual Practice

Breathing God’s Compassion

Light a candle and sit quietly, reflecting on the fire and light of God. Pay attention to your breathing and let it become calmer and deeper as you focus on God’s presence. Ask God to breathe in you. Image each breath carrying the light of God into your lungs, bloodstream, and every cell in your body until God’s Spirit fills you. Now imagine breathing out God’s compassion and grace each time you exhale. Pray to have the Spirit of Christ radiate from your life like the gentle flame of a candle.

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.

God’s Beloved
Karin Peter, president of seventy

For we do not proclaim ourselves; we proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord and ourselves as your slaves for Jesus’ sake. For it is the God who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness’, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.  -2 Corinthians 4:5-6

A mountain on the northern bank of the Neckar River near Heidelberg, Germany, is called Heiligenberg or “Holy Mountain.” A couple of hours’ hike to the top reveals that the holy essence of this place has been recognized for centuries. Remnants of a Celtic dwelling place (500 BC), an altar from Roman occupation, and the ruins of a ninth-century Benedictine monastery all bear witness to the reverence humans have experienced on this site.

From the top of Heiligenberg you can sense the vastness of creation and the intimacy of God’s presence. Places like this often are referred to as “thin places.” Places where the division between the physical and the spiritual lessens or becomes porous, allow us to sense the Divine more acutely or more deeply. They enable us to have “mountaintop” experiences that shape and form us in new ways.

This Transfiguration Sunday, visit a “thin place.” Whether it is a mountaintop, a quiet chapel, or a calming ritual, may you sense God’s presence in life-transforming ways.

Prayer Phrase

Are we moving toward Jesus, the peaceful One?

Spiritual Practice

Breathing God’s Compassion

Light a candle and sit quietly, reflecting on the fire and light of God. Pay attention to your breathing and let it become calmer and deeper as you focus on God’s presence. Ask God to breathe in you. Image each breath carrying the light of God into your lungs, bloodstream, and every cell in your body until God’s Spirit fills you. Now imagine breathing out God’s compassion and grace each time you exhale. Pray to have the Spirit of Christ radiate from your life like the gentle flame of a candle.

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.

Inspired by the Mission
Vera Wetteroff of Barnhart, MO, USA

For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think, but to think with sober judgement, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. For as in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another.  -Romans 12:3-5

Our family participates every year in a fundraising event for cancer research in St. Louis known as Pedal the Cause (PTC). Usually, I sign up to ride twenty miles, try to raise the minimum required fundraising amount, and enjoy the weekend-long celebration. This is a huge event, where thousands of participants all ride their chosen course and attend events with our PTC community. Like many, I have been disappointed, and even depressed, as the coronavirus has continued to drag through the summer and into the fall. Social events became virtual, were canceled, or were postponed. PTC decided to go virtual with the theme “Pedal the Cause Inspired.”

It was an emotional struggle to go through the summer and not be able to bike with family to get prepared. Medication I sometimes take makes me too unbalanced for biking. Even though my family often biked while socially distancing, I often stayed home. It was uncertain if I would even be able to ride on the day of the event. During one of my “pity parties,” I found the Spirit asking me, “Is this what Pedal the Cause is all about?”

I recalled the mission and vision for PTC. The mission is to fund cancer research. The vision is to “Create a World without Cancer.” This reflection inspired me to refocus, not on bike riding, but on the mission aspect of funding cancer research projects to create a world without cancer. In past years, I focused only on reaching the minimum fundraising goal set for me by PTC. I was not inspired to do more than minimum. This year, I set my own goal above that minimum. I began to follow the step-by-step guidelines for fundraising. As a result, the funds raised were more than double my own goal.

In Community of Christ, our mission is to proclaim Jesus Christ and promote communities of joy, hope, love, and peace. Only with this focus can we reach the vision of the kingdom of God. Like a world without cancer, it may seem unreachable at times. When we are inspired and focus on our Mission Initiatives, even in difficult times, then we are rewarded for our efforts…and inspired by the mission.

Prayer Phrase

Are we moving toward Jesus, the peaceful One?

Spiritual Practice

Breathing God’s Compassion

Light a candle and sit quietly, reflecting on the fire and light of God. Pay attention to your breathing and let it become calmer and deeper as you focus on God’s presence. Ask God to breathe in you. Image each breath carrying the light of God into your lungs, bloodstream, and every cell in your body until God’s Spirit fills you. Now imagine breathing out God’s compassion and grace each time you exhale. Pray to have the Spirit of Christ radiate from your life like the gentle flame of a candle.

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.

Blessing Baskets
Miriam Counts of Ironton, MO, USA

Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.  -Matthew 11:28-30

A dear sister in Christ shared a story with me about a Blessing Basket. She had a friend going through some tough times, feeling very low, and struggling to hang on and maintain the strength she needed. She prayed about her feelings of despair, and she was directed to create a Blessing Basket. Each time she was blessed or received an answer to prayer, she was to write these on separate pieces of paper, date them, and put them in her Blessing Basket. When she would enter into one of the low times, she could take out a blessing and remember how God had blessed her and trust that God would bless her in her present need.

What she noticed was how her basket was growing and how each time she reached in to read and remember, she was lifted up, strengthened, and encouraged. As a result, her faith in the Lord grew stronger as did her courage and strength. You see, we forget so easily and sometimes we just need a little reminder to help us in our times of trouble.

I think of David in the Psalms, how he cried out to God during challenging times. Then he would remember how God had blessed him and how he could trust God to deliver him. Then he would give praise and glory and honor to God!

We truly do need to remember blessings. We also need to remember that the Lord is no respecter of persons. God looks on the heart and hears us when we cry out in prayer and we read and trust in God’s Word and give praise, glory and honor to God’s holy name. God blesses us accordingly with just what we need. “You cannot outgive God,” not only materially, but physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. Trust God for your blessings!

Prayer Phrase

Are we moving toward Jesus, the peaceful One?

Spiritual Practice

Breathing God’s Compassion

Light a candle and sit quietly, reflecting on the fire and light of God. Pay attention to your breathing and let it become calmer and deeper as you focus on God’s presence. Ask God to breathe in you. Image each breath carrying the light of God into your lungs, bloodstream, and every cell in your body until God’s Spirit fills you. Now imagine breathing out God’s compassion and grace each time you exhale. Pray to have the Spirit of Christ radiate from your life like the gentle flame of a candle.

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.