Amen
Katie Harmon-McLaughlin, Spiritual Formation Ministries
These are portentous times. The lives of many are being sacrificed unnecessarily to the gods of war, greed, and avarice. The land is being desecrated by the thoughtless waste of vital resources. You must obey my commandments and be in the forefront of those who would mediate this needless destruction while there is yet day. -Doctrine and Covenants 150:7
Our 2 \xc2\xbd year old has become the principle pray-er of our household. She is quick to offer (sometimes lengthy) prayers before family meals. Each prayer begins and ends with Amen. It is often some variation of “Amen, I’m so thankful for my family, and the food, and Maya (our dog), and my friends and my teachers. Amen.”
Sometimes she will ramble on about her day, carrying on a casual conversation. Sometimes she will finish her prayer and point around the table to all the others who need to pray. This goes on for several rounds before we have to remind her that our food is getting cold. I love watching her pray. I love making a space for her to practice speaking aloud what is of meaning in our life together.
I don’t know that our daughter really knows yet what prayer is about, or to whom she is praying. Starting and ending her prayers with Amen, she is unknowingly proclaiming, “it is so,” as the source of her young prayer life, which also seems profound in some way. Still, it is the practice that is forming her, all of us, in the sacred pause of our listening and her speaking and naming what is important and good, and that is also a prayer.
Prayer Phrase
In God we all belong.
Spiritual Practice
Sustaining Our Connections
Many find themselves isolated around the world to protect each other and the most vulnerable during this global pandemic. Spend time prayerfully imagining those people that you might normally come into contact with on a regular basis, known and unknown. Remember all the connections that sustain our lives each day. Even in this time of intentional separation, how are you experiencing deep, intrinsic belonging in 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.
