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.
