Author Archives: karbly

Be Still, Look, and Listen
Jerry Henry of Columbia, MO, USA

…God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, things that are not, to reduce to nothing things that are, so that no one might boast in the presence of God.  -1 Corinthians 1:27-29

I was watching a swimming relay at Graceland University. Each swimmer completed two laps of the pool. It was loud, everyone yelling encouragement to their swimmer. Jubilant celebration occurred as each team completed the race. The last girl touched the finish wall and turned down the length of the pool for her second lap. Abruptly all sound ceased, except for the frantic splashing of the girl toward the far end of the pool. When she touched and started back someone shouted encouragement to her, and then a few more, until the loudest celebration of the event occurred as she finished…in last place. I have always felt God somehow spoke to everyone’s soul at once, “Be still, look, and listen.”

In a Sunday morning prayer service, a seven-year-old boy unexpectedly stood to offer a profound prayer, complete with big words and deep understanding. At a youth talent show, teens were sharing exceptional vocal, instrumental, and poetry abilities. Then, one disadvantaged teen, not wanting to be left out, played “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” on a four-note whistle. These were jaw-dropping experiences, and I felt rather small, seeing what God can do.

In a Sunday worship service, a woman who was quite accomplished was to sing a familiar hymn. I was looking forward to it. She started softly and grew in volume to “…then sings my soul, my Savior God, to thee…” then went totally silent. She started over, and again went silent at the same point. A third time the same occurred and she sat down with tears streaming down her face. As I wiped my tears, I saw that the entire congregation was doing the same. Nearly everyone knew the next words to the song, “How Great Thou Art!” At that moment we were feeling our smallness and God’s greatness. I learned God can use our failures to bring ministry.

I wonder, is God using this time of isolation to say, “Be still,” to us? Is God saying, “Stop, look, and listen”? Might God be saying, “See how a tiny virus can confound the learned, wealthy, and powerful Be still and know that I am God”?

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.

Through the Valley
Jeanne Murphy of Glen Carbon, IL, USA

As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.  -Colossians 3:12-17

Have you ever felt that you are “walking through the valley of the shadow of death”? Sometimes, I feel that I have spent most of my life in that valley. Sometimes, I am there because of the death of a loved one; sometimes, I am there because I have had suicidal thoughts during my life. I am in my 80s now, so obviously I haven’t acted on those thoughts; but the thoughts are never very far away.

Suicide is the tenth leading cause of death in the United States; we need to not be afraid to recognize it and address it. Doctrine and Covenants 163:2b tells us, “The restoring of persons to healthy or righteous relationships with God, others, themselves, and the earth is at the heart of the purpose of your journey as a people of faith.”

People “walking through the valley of the shadow of death” need to be restored. People who are suicidal want to and need to be heard-but they may not let anyone know of their need. Restoration is something best accomplished in relationship or in community-not alone. We are the Community of Christ. Our purpose is to help people find life-giving relationships, and we need to have open eyes and ears to sense these needs.

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.

Inside the Tent
Jan Hill of New Brighton, MN, USA

For the mountains may depart
  and the hills be removed,
but my steadfast love shall not depart from you,
  and my covenant of peace shall not be removed,
  says the Lord, who has compassion on you.  -Isaiah 54:10 

We have a screen tent we take to reunion. We’ve done it for years. The custom is that, after the day’s activities are over, we turn on the lights in the screen tent, unfold the lawn chairs, put the snacks on the table, and people just come. Whoever comes by gets invited in, and we squeeze together to make more room, sitting elbow to elbow and knee to knee.

At these late-night gatherings, we talk over the day’s happenings, tell funny stories, laugh, and share snacks. The darkness all around on the outside and the circle of light on the inside seem to draw us closer. Sometimes we begin to talk about serious things, like our hopes and dreams, our questions, our experiences, and our faith.

People express themselves very freely, though sometimes clumsily, and maybe not well thought through. Even though we are not a highly diverse group, not everyone agrees with each other. But we cut each other some slack, and we listen.

We seldom solve any of our theological questions in our late-night visits. But maybe we open some boxes and free people to be themselves without labels of “conservative” or “liberal” or “judgmental” or “radical” or “old-fashioned” or “progressive” or “rigid” or “weird.” Maybe we let God’s grace fall on everyone. Maybe we are emerging as new people in Jesus Christ, a fit place for the Spirit of God to dwell.

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.

Bright Spots
Glenna Henry of Columbia, MO, USA

For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body-Jews or Greeks, slaves or free-and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.

Indeed, the body does not consist of one member but of many. If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it.

Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.  -1 Corinthians 12:12-14, 26, 27

The fall leaves are beautiful this year! It always amazes me how, within some patches of woods, the trees seem to glow with a life of their own! During the summer we can’t see into the heart of the woods. But when leaves turn in the fall, the brilliance once hidden stands out with remarkable clarity bringing a new awareness of what is within the depths of the grove!

As I appreciate those places of beauty, I am reminded that we often miss the beauty in the lives of people because the surface of their lives hides what’s inside…until some change brings the inner person to our attention.

I am reminded that, like leaves, the formula for beauty is already held within the God-given cells of our beings. As a change in temperature triggers the beauty of leaf color, so the beauty in people is often triggered by some change.

It seems as if COVID-19 has been like those leafy, green bushes and trees, blocking our view and clouding our vision with fear and anxiety. It has, by necessity, required us to change our behavior. We now view others with caution or even suspicion, and our lives are filled with worry.

If we look closely, we can find bright spots reminding us that we are not abandoned by those who care or by our God who loves us beyond measure. Our bright spots have been the neighbor who left a package of toilet paper on our porch, another who called to see if we needed anything from the store, and our family across the country that stays in close contact so we don’t feel so isolated.

Despite that encouragement, nothing can quite relieve the grief and pain of loss that comes from losing beloved friends over the past months. Comfort has only come from God’s word and from loving conversations with those who share our pain. These are bright spots in the midst of the maze of fear and anxiety that blocks our vision.

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.

Proclaim Wholeness
Becky Savage of Lee’s Summit, MO, USA

In the morning, while it was still very dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed. And Simon and his companions hunted for him. When they found him, they said to him, “Everyone is searching for you.” He answered, “Let us go on to the neighboring towns, so that I may proclaim the message there also; for that is what I came out to do.” And he went throughout Galilee, proclaiming the message in their synagogues and casting out demons.  -Mark 1:35-39

I hadn’t participated in a Communion service since the 2016 World Conference. I am unable to attend services in physical church buildings where I live because of an autoimmune illness.

Then in September 2019, the First Presidency released “Guidelines for Serving the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper (Communion).” The guidelines offer directions for real-time online participation in the Lord’s Supper. This simultaneous experience is considered the same as being in a single physical location with other participants. The primary location has priesthood members serving the emblems to gathered members while others join online.

I have participated with the Toronto Centre Congregation as a member of the online Beyond the Walls group for several years. However, the first online sacrament of the Lord’s Supper was a particularly meaningful service. I hadn’t realized how much I had missed the experience of shared prayers, bread, and wine.

I shopped for a special cup and saucer for my first sacrament in years. Communion day, I woke in prayerful anticipation, prepared a gluten-free piece of bread and grape juice, and set up a special worship area. I was asked to offer one of the prayers from my home in Missouri via Zoom with the local and online Facebook Live congregation. The feeling of inclusion, despite the online environment, was amazing.

Doctrine and Covenants 164:4c says, “Explore all the ways the Lord’s Supper can spiritually form the church community into a true and living expression of the life, sacrifice, resurrection, and continuing presence of Christ. Inherent in this sacrament is the divine call for the church to be a sacramental offering for the blessing, healing, and peace of creation.”

I had lost the gift of sacred community for the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper. The new simultaneous online Communion experience restored wholeness for my spiritual life. I rejoice each Communion Sunday as I join with the online sacred extended community of Christ that restores body, mind, spirit, and relationship to wholeness.

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.

Laugh and Play and Sing
Don Chilton, St. Louis, MO, USA

Lift up your eyes and fix them on the place beyond the horizon to which you are sent. Journey in trust, assured that the great and marvelous work is for this time and for all time. Claim your unique and sacred place within the circle of those who call upon the name of Jesus Christ. Be faithful to the spirit of the Restoration, mindful that it is a spirit of adventure, openness, and searching. Walk proudly and with a quickened step. Be a joyful people. Laugh and play and sing, embodying the hope and freedom of the gospel. Become a people of the Temple-those who see violence but proclaim peace, who feel conflict yet extend the hand of reconciliation, who encounter broken spirits and find pathways for healing.  -Doctrine and Covenants 161:1-2a

I find great comfort and encouragement in these words of counsel found in Doctrine and Covenants 161. During this time in history, with all the concerns of COVID-19, social justice, political strife, hurricanes, earthquakes, wildfires, and everything else going on right now, the words of the first three paragraphs of this section speak to me; I hope they speak to you as well.

When I am feeling anxious or frustrated with all that is going on in our world, I turn to this scripture, and I am reminded to trust God and that this work is for this time and all time. I am reminded that our faith walk is one of adventure, openness, and searching. Don’t we all enjoy an adventure? How blessed we are in this faith tradition to have this glorious gospel! It is indeed an adventure!

I love the sentences, “Walk proudly and with a quickened step” and “Be a joyful people. Laugh and play and sing, embodying the hope and freedom of the gospel.” Do we walk proudly? Do our communities see we are truly a joyful people? Do we laugh and play and sing? In these difficult days do people see the hope and freedom of the gospel lived through our lives?

Are we proclaiming peace? Are we extending the hand of reconciliation? Are we finding pathways for healing? That is our call. I see the response to that call being demonstrated in so many ways. There are so many beautiful testimonies of God’s goodness and grace and about how God is guiding us on this journey. This truly is a marvelous adventure when we journey in trust. It is a marvelous adventure, not just for good times, but for all times including this time.

That is why we can be a joyful people.
That is why we can walk proudly.
That is why we can laugh and play and sing.

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.

The Greasy Little Brown Bag
Chuck Williams of Mesa, AZ, USA

Open your ears to hear the pleading of mothers and fathers in all nations who desperately seek a future of hope for their children. Do not turn away from them. For in their welfare resides your welfare.  -Doctrine and Covenants 161:3a

I had been placed in charge of the breakfast program at school. This predated the development of the federally funded lunch programs. Our funds were quite limited. The program was designed for low-income families who were having trouble feeding their children breakfast.

Jimmy was a little first grader who showed up early every morning for breakfast. He clutched in his hand a brown, greasy bag containing his lunch. I noted that, if we had donuts, he would save part of it for his lunch. Neighbors had called in several times to tell us they had observed a little boy going through the garbage and taking out scraps and putting them in his bag.

As the weather got colder, I found a warm jacket in our supply closet to put over his shirt, along with several pairs of socks. The nurse, after weighing the children, made a note that Jimmy was quite a bit underweight. It was determined that, perhaps we needed to call the mother in and talk about our concerns.

On the appointed day, the principal, nurse, social worker, and I gathered around a kidney-shaped table facing the mother who appeared to be between 18 and 20 years of age. Each took their turn expressing the concerns they had for Jimmy in a straightforward, factual manner. When each had completed their observation, the mother rose, looked us straight in the eye and said, “I have listened to you telling me I do not look after my son. Well, for your information, I work nights at McDonalds for $3.00 an hour, and many nights I sell my body on my way home so that I can pay the rent. I don’t have to take any more of your .” She turned and walked out of the room.

I have never felt as inept and disappointed with myself than I did then. I asked myself why could we not have come up with some positive ways of dealing with the problem. I made a commitment I would never let something like that happen again, and it never did.

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.

Never Give Up
Brandon Neloms of Pooler, GA, USA

First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings should be made for everyone, for kings and all who are in high positions, so that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and dignity.  -1 Timothy 2:1-2

In a conversation with my father, he told me a great story about when he was a young man looking for a job in 1972. My father was a brick mason, and around the time he and Mother were married, brickwork was inconsistent due to rain and cold weather. Sometimes, he wouldn’t get paid. He felt he needed something more consistent. He decided to go to the local plant, Union Carbide, and inquire about a job. He said every time brickwork was canceled due to rain or cold weather, he would go there and sit on the steps and greet people as they walked inside. He said he had grown tired of going there with no results.

After about six months, as he was about to leave the steps one day, a black limousine pulled up; and an older gentleman in a suit stepped out and asked my father if he worked at the plant. My father replied, “No, but I sure want to. My wife is pregnant, and I need a good job, sir.” The gentlemen replied, “Well, I’m the owner of the company. Follow me.”

The owner took him inside and asked the staff if they knew my father, and the staff replied, “Yes, that’s Mr. Neloms. He comes here often to see if we are hiring.” The owner then said, “Hire him! Anyone with that type of consistency deserves a shot!” My father said the joy he had on that day was unbelievable. He told me he learned that day to never give up.

How many of us become tired and stop, although God told us to keep fighting? If God is telling us to keep fighting, it’s for a reason. My father’s story is a testament that, if God has a plan for us, it’s only a matter of time before we get our shot. But we won’t get it if we quit. Let’s keep grinding; keep running; keep believing; our chance may just be right around the corner.

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 Is a Dreamer
Dan Gregory of Edina, MN, USA

I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God-what is good and acceptable and perfect.  -Romans 12:1-2

I think God is a dreamer.

I think God’s dream is more expansive than we could ever hope.
It begins with a desire to be with. A desire so deep and so persistent and so consuming that it shapes God’s very self.

I think God’s dream is a “coming-close-to.”
In God’s dream, God is fully God’s self. We are fully ourselves. And we dance, separate yet fully together, together.

I think God’s dream is about lifting up rather than, well, lording over.
It’s a continuous celebration of every spectacular moment, a cheering at each burst of life and insight.
It’s a coaxing to be resplendent, whether as laugh, mountain, or blade of grass.
In God’s dream, I think there is balance and humble admiration and a quickening toward wholeness.

I don’t think there’s room for punishment, suffering, or dejection in God’s dream.
I don’t think God’s dream begins or ends with judgment.
I don’t think God is willing to fully write anyone out of the dream God is dreaming.
I don’t think God dreams of in or out, us or them, title or status or nationality. I think God dreams of each as Beloved.

I think God dreams of today.
I think God dreams of right now.
I think God’s dream of a world where all belong, each is valued, everyone is seen, and all experience abundance is overflowing from God’s self already.
I think God’s dream is possible.
I think God’s dream is possible when our dreams are joined to God’s.
I think God stands waiting to weave our dreams together into a living, breathing tapestry without limits.

I think I’d like to be a dreamer, too.

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.

Blessings, Service, and Calling
Jeanne Murphy of Glen Carbon, IL, USA

When Jesus became aware of this, he departed. Many crowds followed him, and he cured all of them, and he ordered them not to make him known. This was to fulfil what had been spoken through the prophet Isaiah:
“Here is my servant, whom I have chosen,
my beloved, with whom my soul is well pleased.
I will put my Spirit upon him,
and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles.  -Matthew 12:15-18

In 1994 I attended a worship workshop. One of the sessions asked us to remember a significant spiritual experience and share it with one other person there. After the workshop, I wrote these notes:

As I recalled experiences, I realized that what they have in common is my deep need for recognition by God. Whenever I feel God has heard my cry for help, I feel overwhelmed by any response. I think this indicates how deep my belief is that I am not a person worthy of any notice-and even worse-that I am such a bad person that there is no hope for the future.

My lack of self-worth was instilled in me as a child. I have struggled all my life to overcome that teaching. I have had several times when I felt God heard my cry for help, and help came. One of the ways help came to me was through the words of my evangelist blessings. When I was 18, I asked for my blessing; it has been foundational to my adult life. The evangelist named three spiritual gifts that were mine. This was amazing because I didn’t feel gifted. He also said I would have the opportunity to establish a zionic home. This, too, was amazing because I felt jinxed by my dysfunctional family.

I asked for a second evangelist blessing in 2001. My life had changed significantly in the years previous to 2001. This blessing reaffirmed my gifts and spoke about light, hope, and adventure. More importantly it spoke of God’s love.

Life takes unexpected turns; one of those appeared for me in 2014. Then Apostle Stassi Cramm presented my call to the office of evangelist. I had not expected such a call. I thought the circumstances of my early life had firmly closed the door to further ministerial responsibilities. The call to evangelist completely changed my outlook, just as the previous blessings I had received had encouraged me in earlier years.

As an evangelist, I feel particularly led to offer the ministry of “Living Sanctuary” (one of the five areas of evangelist ministry). I have needed that sanctuary myself, and I want to offer it to others so that they do not have to walk alone.

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.