Author Archives: karbly

See Christ among Us
Jane Gardner, presiding evangelist

Then the righteous will answer him, “Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?” And the king will answer them, “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.” -Matthew 25:37-40

We hadn’t seen him at the Temple for many months. Usually when he comes through the doors, we are watchful and shadow his movements. He’s been known to cause damage. We understand that he has challenges related to mental illness.

Just recently he showed up again for Prayer for Peace in the Temple Sanctuary. He often moves from seat to seat during the service. Near the end of this service he comes to sit next to me. I smile and nod while trying to model reverent attention to the service. Silently, I wonder, “Why does he come to the Temple? What draws him here?” Of course, in the winter, the warmth of the building is a big attraction for those without shelter or heat. But is there something more? Why does he choose to attend the Prayer for Peace?

In a moment of pure blessing and insight, he becomes the Christ to me. With all of his problems and difficulties, with all of his unbalanced behavior-he is “one of the least of these who are members of my family…” (Matthew 25:40).

As the service draws to a close, he leans toward me and says, “Tomorrow I have to go to court. I’m here to find peace.”

May it be so.

Prayer Phrase

God, help me seek peace for me, peace for us, peace for everyone, and peace for our planet. Amen.

Spiritual Practice

The International Community

Find (or imagine) a globe or map of the world. Look at all the nations and find a country other than your own. Notice the geographic distance between your homeland and this one. Picture a person living there. Pray for this person. Sense God’s love connecting you just as the oceans connect the continents. Thank God for the spiritual connection you have with all of God’s people around the globe. Ask a blessing on the church as a community sharing Christ’s peace, drawing all into the family of God.

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.

Carry Your Own Sunshine with You
Rodger Howell of Columbia, MO, USA

Depart from evil, and do good;
 so you shall abide forever.
For the Lord loves justice;
 he will not forsake his faithful ones.
The righteous shall be kept safe forever,
 but the children of the wicked shall be cut off. -Psalm 37:27-28

I spent my working career in sales and discovered a philosophy that has carried me through the years and through the ups and downs of life. Here are a few thoughts:

At a farm convention in Minneapolis, televangelist Robert Schuller stepped up on stage and wondered what he would say to 3,000 farmers who were hurting because of the farm crisis in the early 80s. Then it came to him what to say: “Tough times never last, but tough people do. We are in a tough time, but it shall pass.”

You may be thinking, “But how?” Start with a positive mental attitude. “For as he thinks in his heart, so is he” (Proverbs 23:7 NKJV). A positive mental attitude depends on what you think the outcome will be. If you are visiting a friend and you are looking forward to it, then you will have a good outcome.

How do I prepare? The scriptures help us. In Matthew 7:7 Jesus instructs, “Ask…seek…knock…” Be expectant and full of hope as you go through each step. Hope is a desire of your heart.

Don’t let anyone steal your dream. Dream big because sometimes dreams come true. It took me 30 years to acquire the office chair that I had dreamed about in 1963 while in the military in Samsun, Turkey. I recognized it from a dream that I had. I purchased it on the spot. It was a blessing!

I read a story about a family who was preparing to go on a picnic, but just as they were about to leave, it started to rain. The kids were disappointed. The mother cleared the living room floor, put the picnic blanket on the floor, and had the picnic inside. She carried her sunshine with her.

How about you? Do others see you carry a ray of hope, love, joy, and peace and the light of Christ in your daily walk? Seek to walk with confidence onto the stage of life each day and expect answers to your prayers. May God bless you is my prayer.

Prayer Phrase

God, help me seek peace for me, peace for us, peace for everyone, and peace for our planet. Amen.

Spiritual Practice

The International Community

Find (or imagine) a globe or map of the world. Look at all the nations and find a country other than your own. Notice the geographic distance between your homeland and this one. Picture a person living there. Pray for this person. Sense God’s love connecting you just as the oceans connect the continents. Thank God for the spiritual connection you have with all of God’s people around the globe. Ask a blessing on the church as a community sharing Christ’s peace, drawing all into the family of God.

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.

Discovering the New Normal
Jerry Henry of Columbia, MO, USA

Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart. He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor had respect for people. In that city there was a widow who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Grant me justice against my opponent.’ For a while he refused; but later he said to himself, ‘Though I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice, so that she may not wear me out by continually coming.'” And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them? I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them. And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” -Luke 18:1-8

Too often we say, “I’m not prejudiced.” “I never condoned slavery.” “It’s not my fault. I didn’t cause poverty.” But at the same time, we choose a circle of friends who look, act, and think very much like ourselves.

A good friend once told me when her children were fighting, each would say the other one started it. Then their mother would remind them, “I’m not interested in who started it. I want to know who’s going to stop it.”

The same wisdom applies to us, too. It might not matter who started racial prejudice, or financial privilege, or religious bigotry, or sexual bashing, or any other division of persons. The question now is “Who is going to stop it?”

We cannot simply plead our innocence. We must actively remove the walls that separate us from other members of humanity. Breaking bad habits means ceasing to judge, welcoming diversity, learning new words, avoiding words or phrases that offend, appreciating the unique giftedness of persons.

Scriptures teach us Zion is not built by an individual, but by the whole assembly of humanity. We are challenged to focus on who we are, not who we would like to be, not on who we don’t want to be, but who we are. In that focus we see our faults and our excellence. There is no need to lament our blemishes; we should repent and forgive ourselves. That is who we are.

There is not time to pat ourselves on the back for our giftedness. We are to share that gift for the benefit of God’s kingdom. Any ability we possess is exactly what God placed in us, to be shared at this particular time. All are equal in God’s sight. Each one carries a gift for the kingdom. When Christ comes again, he will usher in a new order, and peace will reign. It will be a new normal.

Prayer Phrase

God, help me seek peace for me, peace for us, peace for everyone, and peace for our planet. Amen.

Spiritual Practice

The International Community

Find (or imagine) a globe or map of the world. Look at all the nations and find a country other than your own. Notice the geographic distance between your homeland and this one. Picture a person living there. Pray for this person. Sense God’s love connecting you just as the oceans connect the continents. Thank God for the spiritual connection you have with all of God’s people around the globe. Ask a blessing on the church as a community sharing Christ’s peace, drawing all into the family of God.

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.

Lift Up Your Eyes
Dave Loy of Independence, MO, USA

Learn of me and listen to my words; walk in the meekness of my Spirit and you shall have peace in me. -Doctrine and Covenants 18:2n

I was born with a rare neurological disease that is slowly causing me to lose feeling in my legs and arms. I have no feeling in my feet resulting in poor balance, and my hands are beginning to be affected. Because I cannot feel the pressure of my feet on the ground, I do not know where they are as I walk unless I am looking at them.

Every morning I take Herman for a long walk. My head is down surveying the ground in front of me for any hazards that I might step on, causing me to fall. I rarely walk on an unfamiliar path because there is greater safety for me when I know what is coming beyond my downward focus. If I want to look up at anything I must stop, make sure I have good balance, then lift my gaze to look. I have certainly bumped my head a few times on low branches, and I know there is a great deal of beauty that I miss because my focus is cemented to a very small area in front of me.

As human beings we often go through our days focused on the tasks that are right in front of us. We only see a very small subset of the things that are going on around us, and we miss so much of what God offers. If we do look up, we stop where we are to see and appreciate what is happening at that moment, and then we are right back at the task again, head down and moving forward.

God wants us to move forward in life with our eyes up, scanning all that is around, taking in all the possibilities that God is offering. By seeing all that is available as we move forward, we can change direction to fit God’s purposes. Then we can potentially move onto unfamiliar paths that offer deeper meaningful connections to God and more fulfilling experiences. I may walk with my head down, but I will seek the horizon in life.

Prayer Phrase

God, help me seek peace for me, peace for us, peace for everyone, and peace for our planet. Amen.

Spiritual Practice

The International Community

Find (or imagine) a globe or map of the world. Look at all the nations and find a country other than your own. Notice the geographic distance between your homeland and this one. Picture a person living there. Pray for this person. Sense God’s love connecting you just as the oceans connect the continents. Thank God for the spiritual connection you have with all of God’s people around the globe. Ask a blessing on the church as a community sharing Christ’s peace, drawing all into the family of God.

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.

You Were Born for Such a Time as This!
Glenna Henry of Columbia, MO, USA

Who is wise and understanding among you? Show by your good life that your works are done with gentleness born of wisdom. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy. And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace for those who make peace. -James 3:13, 17-18

If you have ever wondered “Why was I born? Why now? What is my purpose here?” please know you were born for a unique purpose that only you and God can determine. You are precious in God’s sight. As you struggle to understand who, why, or what you are, God knows your uniqueness and blesses your search for understanding.

COVID-19 has swept across the world, a tiny virus that can bring a nation like ours almost to its knees! I am reminded of a Disney animated movie where an evil dragon and a white-haired wizard are engaged in an epic battle. Each has magical powers to change into something different. Suddenly, it appears the dragon has won because the wizard just disappears. The dragon jubilantly roars victory, but the wizard has simply changed into a tiny germ and infected the dragon who becomes sick. Like most Disney movies, the good guy wins. Today, we are the ones infected by the virus; we are waiting for the “good guy” vaccine to rescue us.

In my search for reassurance during these trying times, I’ve read parts of the Old Testament I haven’t paid much attention to before.

O Lord, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not listen? Or cry to you “Violence!” and you will not save?
Why do you make me see wrongdoing and look at trouble? Destruction and violence are before me; strife and contention arise. -Habakkuk 1:2-3

And Psalm 8:1, 4-5: O Lord…how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens….what are human beings that you are mindful of them, …that you care for them? Yet you have made them a little lower than God, and crowned them with glory and honor.

My life experiences have not forced me to dig very deep into my soul to find the understanding that’s needed now. I can see anguish, feel pain, and hear cries. As I try to incorporate that into my conscience, my response is limited by who and what I am. Yet, I can call on a listening God of love to guide me.

Prayer Phrase

God, help me seek peace for me, peace for us, peace for everyone, and peace for our planet. Amen.

Spiritual Practice

The International Community

Find (or imagine) a globe or map of the world. Look at all the nations and find a country other than your own. Notice the geographic distance between your homeland and this one. Picture a person living there. Pray for this person. Sense God’s love connecting you just as the oceans connect the continents. Thank God for the spiritual connection you have with all of God’s people around the globe. Ask a blessing on the church as a community sharing Christ’s peace, drawing all into the family of God.

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.

Bearing Testimony: Speaking Truth to Power
Andrew Bolton of Leicester, England

Excerpted from “Bearing Testimony: Speaking Truth to Power,” Australia Herald, August 2020, p. 14

Speak out for those who cannot speak, for the rights of all the destitute. Speak out, judge righteously, defend the rights of the poor and needy. -Proverbs 31:8-9

We are a testimony-telling people. We tell personal stories of how we have experienced God’s love. When I first met church people as a young adult, I loved hearing peoples’ testimonies of God’s reality in their lives. I was moved, touched, and grew in faith to the point I wanted to be baptized.

Speaking truth to power on behalf of those who cannot always speak for themselves is an extension of our testimony tradition. It is the stewardship of citizenship. The first act of justice is listening to the pain, seeing the hurt and suffering. The second act is doing something. This includes speaking respectfully to those who can change things.

All you need is compassion and courage. Where does courage come from? The Holy Spirit who calls us! Another word for Holy Spirit is Comforter-from the Latin com forte-which means “with strength.” The second source of courage is the support of others.

The best way I have found to visit politicians is to go with someone else, ideally several people, who feel the same way as you. To go with a victim, and others, gives lots of courage. If you can go with members of other faiths, even better.

• Have a single issue.
• Make sure you are well-researched, using reputable sources.
• Practice what each is going to say.
• Introduce yourselves.
• Have your well-prepared “ask”-what you want the politician to do.
• Keep to time; be civil.
• Thank the person for something they have done that you are grateful for. Our long-term goal is to build respectful relationships and have long-term influence.

Letter writing is another form of advocacy. When a politician receives a letter or when you phone, they think, “A thousand other people also are thinking like this.” A good letter includes the following:

1. Be brief. Keep to one page. Handwritten is better.
2. Be courteous.
3. Say what legislation or stand you want your representative to take.
4. Give reasons.
5. Ask questions so they have to reply.

“Courageously challenge cultural, political, and religious trends that are contrary to the reconciling and restoring purposes of God” (Doctrine and Covenants 163:3b).

Prayer Phrase

God, help me seek peace for me, peace for us, peace for everyone, and peace for our planet. Amen.

Spiritual Practice

The International Community

Find (or imagine) a globe or map of the world. Look at all the nations and find a country other than your own. Notice the geographic distance between your homeland and this one. Picture a person living there. Pray for this person. Sense God’s love connecting you just as the oceans connect the continents. Thank God for the spiritual connection you have with all of God’s people around the globe. Ask a blessing on the church as a community sharing Christ’s peace, drawing all into the family of God.

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.

Day of Tolerance
Cathi Cackler-Veazey of the World Church Diversity and Inclusion Team

United Nations International Day of Tolerance https://www.un.org/en/events/toleranceday/

But the Lord sits enthroned forever,
 he has established his throne for judgment.
He judges the world with righteousness;
 he judges the peoples with equity.
The Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed,
 a stronghold in times of trouble.
And those who know your name put their trust in you,
 for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you.
Sing praises to the Lord, who dwells in Zion.
 Declare his deeds among the peoples. -Psalm 9:7-11

A definition of tolerance is the ability or willingness to accept or allow something, in particular the existence of opinions or behavior that one does not necessarily agree with.

This is a particularly difficult time in our world. The stress that has grown with the many challenges surrounding us today only makes tolerance for others more important. Tolerance is foundational to building strong and healthy communities. When diversity is encouraged and even pursued in communities, they are strengthened and enriched. Tolerance allows diversity to flourish. God created diversity all over the Earth because that is what is needed for survival in plants, animals, sea creatures, and humans.

Tolerance can be difficult when we confront stark differences of opinion with those who we are close to. How many times have you realized that someone you are close to and whose relationship you cherish has a totally different worldview from yours? How do you approach the need to keep the relationship intact while staying true to your beliefs?

Perhaps it is important to consider what the Bible says about tolerance for an answer. Here is a unique way of looking at it by spelling the word.

T   Take advantage of Jesus’ example of acceptance and empathy exemplified during his earthly ministry.
O   Obey God’s call to love all.
L   Love others as you do yourself.
E   Encourage others to embrace diversity everywhere.
R   Respect all people.
A   Accept others’ point of view while seeking to understand their life experience.
N   Nothing should separate you from God’s love; love others as God does.
C   Constantly be mindful that relationships with others take nurturing, understanding, and listening to their life stories.
E   Embrace open dialogues and seek common ground.

We have a natural tendency to think our perspectives and beliefs are the right ones. Our challenge is to meet others with tolerance and understanding, hoping that they in turn will do the same for us. If that happens, tolerance becomes a reality, and communities thrive.

Prayer Phrase

God, help me seek peace for me, peace for us, peace for everyone, and peace for our planet. Amen.

Spiritual Practice

The International Community

Find (or imagine) a globe or map of the world. Look at all the nations and find a country other than your own. Notice the geographic distance between your homeland and this one. Picture a person living there. Pray for this person. Sense God’s love connecting you just as the oceans connect the continents. Thank God for the spiritual connection you have with all of God’s people around the globe. Ask a blessing on the church as a community sharing Christ’s peace, drawing all into the family of God.

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.

In Search of Whole-Life Stewardship
Katie Harmon-McLaughlin, World Church Spiritual Formation Team lead

Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. -1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, 23a

Each day upon returning to my neighborhood, I would pass the same person holding a sign at the highway off ramp. When I had some spare cash or a granola bar, I would roll down my window and share these simple offerings. When I had nothing to give, I would try at least to make eye contact, wave, or nod to acknowledge the presence of another person in my midst.

Yet, a restless image kept nudging me that I would avoid and ignore. What if I asked him to walk down to the coffee shop on the corner? What if I bought him coffee and a warm meal and listened to his story? Every time the image came, I knew it was full with sacred potential, and full with the risk of investing my life in another person.

The “what if” of prophetic imagination was swiftly accompanied by the “what if” of worst-case scenarios and the voices of weariness that reminded me I had too much to do. Each day, the vision of relationship with this person was so strong in me that I almost turned around before I got to my driveway at least once a week.

Now that I have moved away from that neighborhood and missed this opportunity for sacred connection, I want to be more courageous and responsive. There was no “weeping and gnashing of teeth,” but I do experience the haunting regret of a missed opportunity to respond to a sacred calling. I want to be willing to invest my life, my time, my resources, and all that I am steward of into the vision of God’s peaceable kin-dom on earth. I don’t want to bury the gifts of the Spirit entrusted to me. They are meant to be shared. May God’s vision of the world as it can be continue to nudge us out of our fears and into whole-life response that blesses and transforms.

Prayer Phrase

God, help me seek peace for me, peace for us, peace for everyone, and peace for our planet. Amen.

Spiritual Practice

The International Community

Find (or imagine) a globe or map of the world. Look at all the nations and find a country other than your own. Notice the geographic distance between your homeland and this one. Picture a person living there. Pray for this person. Sense God’s love connecting you just as the oceans connect the continents. Thank God for the spiritual connection you have with all of God’s people around the globe. Ask a blessing on the church as a community sharing Christ’s peace, drawing all into the family of God.

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.

Yield to Generosity
Kathy Sharp, Mission Funding Council member

Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap; for the measure you give will be the measure you get back. -Luke 6:38

When my husband and I fell in love, our college friends and professors were puzzled by our attraction. We were so different. He was serious, cautious, introverted and grounded in data. I was…well, not that!

Our first year of married life, as college seniors, was a financial struggle. We both worked and saved money before our wedding and received scholarships while going to school full time. Our families, living hundreds of miles away, didn’t know we had trouble paying for rent, utilities, and groceries. For a few months, we supplemented our grocery budget with food stamps, a U.S. government program for those who could prove financial need. Neither of our families had ever used government aid for basic living before. We felt awkward when we handed the coupons to the grocery clerk as she rang up our groceries at the cash register.

After graduation, we were hired for good professional jobs. But there was a gap of a few months before our jobs started, and then 30 days more before we received our first paychecks. With little financial reserves left after securing our new apartment, we drove across country to stay with friends and family that would feed us for a few weeks. The cost of gasoline (much cheaper than today!) could go on a credit card to be paid back later.

Grocery stores only took cash in those days. During those no-income months, a much older church couple, sensing our need, treated us to a much-appreciated round of mini-golf and ice cream.

Receiving generosity from others during our financial hardship humbled and bonded us as a couple to be ambassadors of unexpected generosity years later. Reflecting on our 49 years of marriage, some of our most enriching experiences happened when we received from or gave to others. We witness the unmistakable nudging of the Holy Spirit flowing freely throughout this cycle. We experience joy and wonder that God uses all of us to help others: individuals, families, organizations, communities, and, of course, our church. Looking back, I guess my husband and I share one important trait after all: a willingness to yield to generosity.

Generosity Cycle

For six weeks, the Generosity Cycle provides an annual opportunity to intentionally move together through a season of generosity. The four phases of the Generosity Cycle: Invite, Discover, Respond and Reflect encourage us to remember God’s extravagant grace and generosity, to discover a deeper joy in living Christ’s mission, and to respond through whole-life stewardship as we reflect on our lives as generous disciples. You can find more information about how to participate here.

Prayer Phrase

God, help me seek peace for me, peace for us, peace for everyone, and peace for our planet. Amen.

Spiritual Practice

The International Community

Find (or imagine) a globe or map of the world. Look at all the nations and find a country other than your own. Notice the geographic distance between your homeland and this one. Picture a person living there. Pray for this person. Sense God’s love connecting you just as the oceans connect the continents. Thank God for the spiritual connection you have with all of God’s people around the globe. Ask a blessing on the church as a community sharing Christ’s peace, drawing all into the family of God.

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.

Direction and Counsel
Gene Allen Groner of Independence, MO, USA

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. -Ephesians 1:3

Many years ago, I wondered what I should do in life. A friend suggested I ask for an evangelist blessing, a special prayer of blessing that gives insight and direction for a person’s journey in life. So I called an evangelist named Harold Velt, who gave me some scriptures to read in preparation. Two weeks later, he and his wife met me at church one evening. While he placed his hands on my head and prayed for the Lord’s guidance, his wife recorded the prayer.

When he started to pray, I felt the warm, comforting presence of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit remained with me throughout the prayer.

I received a printed copy of the prayer in the mail. That’s been over 40 years ago, and I still have it in my library at home. That same Spirit is still present with me whenever I read it. Because it has helped me so much in my life, let me share part of it with you.

“Gene, the Lord is aware of the difficulties and concerns in your past, but you have done well to ask for his counsel at this time. You have been blessed with certain gifts, which God would have you use in his service. So, in your planning for the future, seek not so much for personal gain, but prepare yourself in your studies and in your work to be of service to others. For when you are in the service of others, you are in the service of your God.”

In college, I selected counseling psychology as my major. God helped me find a 30-year career as a financial advisor-to “be of service to others.”

I thank God for his direction and counsel early in my life. The words of the evangelist blessing have continued to help me in my second career, as an author of Christian books and articles-one of the “certain gifts” mentioned in my blessing. Thanks be to God.

For more information on the sacrament of evangelist blessing, go to https://www.CofChrist.org/personal-blessing

Prayer Phrase

God, help me seek peace for me, peace for us, peace for everyone, and peace for our planet. Amen.

Spiritual Practice

The International Community

Find (or imagine) a globe or map of the world. Look at all the nations and find a country other than your own. Notice the geographic distance between your homeland and this one. Picture a person living there. Pray for this person. Sense God’s love connecting you just as the oceans connect the continents. Thank God for the spiritual connection you have with all of God’s people around the globe. Ask a blessing on the church as a community sharing Christ’s peace, drawing all into the family of God.

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.