Daily Bread May 12

People-Not Things-Are Important
Barbara Howard of Independence, MO, USA


And they shall also teach their children to pray, and to walk uprightly before the Lord.  -Doctrine and Covenants 68:4c

I loved the teapot. It was the last gift my mother had given me, and I treasured it above all other possessions. It had seemed so elegant the day I opened it in our drab university apartment. I was five months pregnant and felt very unlovely the day I first tipped it and heard it tinkle “Tea for Two.”

I never used it, but would frequently wind it up and let my two sons listen to it. One day I heard a crash and rushed into the kitchen to see my lovely teapot shattered on the floor. My young son ran to me crying, “I broke your pretty teapot.” I was not angry-I was devastated! All I could do was hold him, rock him back and forth, and cry with him. “It’s not things that are important; it’s people that matter. People are important; things are not important.”

I still treasure that moment I shared with my son when I realized I did not need a teapot to remind me of my mother’s love. After all, it was she who had taught me well that people are more important than things.”

-Reprinted from Journey of Joy, Herald House, 1990, p. 47

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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