Together on the Road: A Trilogy (part three)
By Danny Belrose of Independence, MO, USA
Open your hearts and feel the yearnings of your brothers and sisters who are lonely, despised, fearful, neglected, unloved. Reach out in understanding, clasp their hands, and invite all to share in the blessings of community created in the name of the One who suffered on behalf of all.
Do not be fearful of one another. Respect each life journey, even in its brokenness and uncertainty, for each person has walked alone at times. Be ready to listen and slow to criticize, lest judgments be unrighteous and unredemptive. —Doctrine and Covenants 161: 3a, b
Who Do We Follow?
God calls us to walk in the footsteps of Jesus
—to place our feet where they have yet to tread
—to find the face of Christ in those of different cultures and different persuasions
—to hear Christ’s whisper in those who think and live differently,
to embrace those whose understandings of life are both less than and greater than ours,
and whose image of the divine cries for visibility and freedom.
The path before us is a “road less traveled”
—a path where community sustains us by acceptance and forgiveness,
—honesty and integrity, equity and evenness
—kindness and sacrifice.
Its promise lives in the right arrangement of relationships
blessed by peace, reconciliation, and healing of the Spirit.
May we press forward faithfully continuing Zion’s dream
—where young and old,
—rich and poor,
—male and female celebrate unity amid diversity.
May our journey of discipleship fill us with joy.
May this “road less traveled” cease to be a path. May it become a glorious freeway
broadly embracing all who seek Love’s divine community
on the “great highway of Jesus, to the heart of God.”
Prayer for Peace
Divine Love, help us remember when we need to connect with you, we can connect with your Creation. Wherever we connect, may we bring peace.
Spiritual Practice: Welcoming Unity in Diversity
Meditate on Unity in Diversity. Create a large circle with your arms. See and feel the diverse people God invites inside the sanctuary of Christ’s peace represented by this circle.
Who is easiest to welcome? Whom do you struggle to include? Confess the dividing walls between you and people too different or “challenging” to invite into your spiritual home. Ask God to forgive and heal barriers that keep us from loving one another.
Peace Covenant
Today, God, I will attend not where I go, but how I flow, from the ordinary to the sacred.
