Daily Bread May 08

Me, Too! Part 1
Jeanne Murphey of Glen Carbon, IL, USA


Collectively and individually, you are loved with an everlasting love…. Do not turn away in…fear, or guilt from the One who seeks only the best for you… -Doctrine and Covenants 163:10

I have spent a lifetime trying to overcome my bone-deep belief that I am not lovable or worthy of being loved. In my head I know that is wrong because I have been loved, but my heart is hard to convince.

Thirty years ago, in 1988, I attended a women’s retreat. I had a very powerful spiritual experience there which was also very emotionally painful. I’ve described it as feeling as if I had been hit over the head with a two-by-four board. Our focus for the weekend was an exploration of grief. Grief was defined very simply as “change.” Any time we experienced change, either positive or negative, we needed time to recognize it and experience the appropriate emotions. If the emotions and resulting changes weren’t acknowledged and worked through, they would fester. I recognized that my childhood had been full of such unresolved events.

On Sunday morning, prior to the closing service, we were asked to find a private spot to meditate on what Jesus would say to us if he were seated right beside us. We were given a note card and instructed to write the message that came to our mind, and to begin with the phrase “My daughter ________.” As I wrote those words, “My daughter Jeanne,” I was overwhelmed. During the closing service I tried to process my experience, and it didn’t take long for me to realize that I didn’t feel that I was anyone’s daughter. So, for Jesus to call me “daughter” was beyond my comprehension.

Prayer Phrase

I am about to do a new thing, now it springs forth… (Isaiah 43:19).

Spiritual Practice

A New Thing

Breathe deeply and listen within. Where is the Spirit doing a new thing in you? How do you feel about the new thing that might be emerging? Are you excited, resistant, fearful, hopeful? Take whatever you are experiencing to prayer. Breathe deeply and listen around you. Where is the Spirit doing a new thing in your community? Pay attention to how it feels to discern the Spirit’s activity and presence within and around you.

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.

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