Category Archives: Daily Bread Devotional

Good Friday
Katie Harmon-McLaughlin, Spiritual Formation Ministries

He was despised and rejected by others; a man of suffering and acquainted with infirmity; and as one from who others hide their faces he was despised, and we held him of no account. Surely he has borne our infirmities and carried our diseases; yet we accounted him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the punishment that made us whole, and by his bruises we are healed. -Isaiah 53:3-5

Are we moving toward Jesus, the peaceful One?

This question causes me to wince and squirm on Good Friday. I am tempted to evade it, hold it at a distance, let it collect dust in a corner of my soul.

Several years ago, we reflected on the meaning of crucifixion with our community. We printed images and stories of current events that are hard to confront. In our hands we held flimsy pieces of paper that contained statistics of child homelessness and global hunger, images of refugees on fragile boats in a violent sea. One by one, we came forward and reverently placed our images, news stories, statistics onto the wooden cross until it was full-a mosaic of the world’s brokenness. We confessed, raged, offered our lament. We prayed for resurrection and justice and peace. It was a stunning and troubling image of incarnation.

Thomas Merton took the incarnation seriously when he reflected on the ongoing crucifixion of Christ in the world today through acts of injustice and exploitation. “Murders, massacres, revolution hatred, the slaughter and torture of…bodies and souls, the destruction of cities by fire, the starvation of millions, the annihilation of populations and finally the cosmic inhumanity of nuclear genocide: Christ is massacred in His members, torn limb from limb; God is murdered in [humanity]” (A Thomas Merton Reader, p. 320).

What is this guiding question asking of us on Good Friday?

Is it suggesting that sometimes moving toward Jesus, the peaceful One, means moving toward the world’s suffering? Does it mean we are to keep our eyes and hearts open to “hear the pleading of mothers and fathers in all nations who desperately seek a future of hope for their children” (Doctrine and Covenants 163:4a)? What does it mean that our welfare resides in the welfare of those daily crucified through acts of violence, oppression, and exploitation? “As long as we are on earth,” writes Merton, “the love that unites us will bring us suffering by our very contact with one another, because this love is the resetting of a Body of broken bones” (A Thomas Merton Reader, p. 320).

Oh, Lord, hear our prayer. Rend our hearts. Accept our confessions. Hold our grieving. Stoke the fires of our anger at injustice. Grant us the wisdom and strength for the healing of the body of Christ in the world today. Give us courage to practice resurrection, to live in your peace.

Prayer Phrase

Are we moving toward Jesus, the peaceful One?

Spiritual Practice

Gospel Contemplation (Mark 11:1-11)

Each week during Lent, you are invited to pray with a different gospel story from the life of Christ. Use your senses and imagination to enter the text. Allow it to come to life in you, observing details, noticing interactions, even engaging in dialogue. Notice where you find yourself in the story and how you feel about what is happening. Notice what it evokes in you or invites of you. Take time to journal or enter silent prayer to reflect on your experience and to sense where the Spirit may be leading you through this scriptural encounter.

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.

Click here to comment or read online.

Dirt Track
Ben Smith of Tootgarook, Victoria, Australia

I love the Lord, because he has heard my voice and my supplications. Because he inclined his ear to me, therefore I will call on him as long as I live. Gracious is the Lord, and righteous; our God is merciful. -Psalm 116:1-2, 5

As we walked along the dirt track, we got to a section which was sheltered by coastal tea trees. Pointing at her sandal, I knew she likely had a stone in her shoe. Bending down, I took the sandal off and emptied it of all the gravel road it had gained. She pointed to the other sandal. Her hand on my shoulder to balance, I removed the second shoe, and immediately she forced her toes into the earth, twisting and turning to make sure the sand got between her toes.

I knew there was no chance of getting those shoes back on, so I stood up and began to walk back up the track. She stopped me. Thinking she’d want to simply play for a while longer I obliged and looked back. Smiling, she pointed at my shoes, a silent gesture for me to join her in that moment of connection with the earth. So many thoughts crossed my mind in that moment. My feet will get dirty. There are stones, and it will likely be painful if I step on one. We need to go soon! Yet without a word, her smile and her invitation said only one thing: “So? It feels good!”

How could I resist? I took my shoes off and with them went my tense shoulders and absent mind. We walked hand in hand down that track, stomping the ground like giants and laughing all the way.

Sometimes we make life so complicated, and I find that I make discipleship a 30-step recipe of challenging ingredients. Often, though, when I bring myself into a moment like this, I experience the love of God.

My lesson that day was to forget the agenda, put the thinking aside, and feel what’s right. The way of the peaceful One is the way of our hearts. When we remove our shoes, or all the things they represent, we dismantle the obstacles we put in the way of experiencing the Spirit of God.

Prayer Phrase

Are we moving toward Jesus, the peaceful One?

Spiritual Practice

Gospel Contemplation (Mark 11:1-11)

Each week during Lent, you are invited to pray with a different gospel story from the life of Christ. Use your senses and imagination to enter the text. Allow it to come to life in you, observing details, noticing interactions, even engaging in dialogue. Notice where you find yourself in the story and how you feel about what is happening. Notice what it evokes in you or invites of you. Take time to journal or enter silent prayer to reflect on your experience and to sense where the Spirit may be leading you through this scriptural encounter.

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.

Click here to comment or read online.

Moving toward Jesus in Quarantine
Susan Oxley of Seattle, WA, USA

Six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany, the home of Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. There they gave a dinner for him. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those at the table with him. Mary took a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard, anointed Jesus’ feet, and wiped them with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (the one who was about to betray him), said, “Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and the money given to the poor?” (He said this not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief; he kept the common purse and used to steal what was put into it.) Jesus said, “Leave her alone. She bought it so that she might keep it for the day of my burial. You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.” -John 12:1-8

The pandemic has changed us, both individually and as a community. The obvious changes include social distancing, mask-wearing, coping with isolation and loneliness, loss of loved ones to quarantine, sickness, and death. But there are other, more subtle changes, and lessons learned.

A month before the pandemic hit, I developed shingles in my eye, forehead, and scalp. Unable to bear light, I lived in darkened rooms without TV, computer, or books. Although able to perform basic tasks like cooking and cleaning, there was little else I could manage with my diminished eyesight and constant pain. Audio books and music provided my only entertainment. Meditation and mindfulness became my solace.

Drawing on the spiritual practices I had learned in classes and worship, I used solitude to focus on God’s presence with me in the darkness. Unable to read resources for study or access computer classes about “Moving toward Jesus, the peaceful One,” I created my own journey of prayer, contemplation, and remembrance.

I learned to listen in the silence without expectation. I paced my apartment in mindfulness. I began to sense God’s presence with me in small things: the wind against the building, a ray of sun against which I had to shield my eyes, the sound of voices passing my door. Overwhelming gratitude for the gift of life sustained me in the absence of activities no longer available. Focused breathing brought release from pain and a deep calm for sleeping. I learned the patience which comes from suffering, and the trust which assures us things will change. Prayer became a loyal companion.

Today, with eyesight restored, I watch TV news, participate in Zoom meetings and online worship, write, and edit for World Church, and enjoy the exuberance of my grandchildren. The shingles pain is minimal, a tiny part of life. My blessings overflow. The peace of Christ which I found in darkness now illumines my days. Yes, there are still times I get anxious or depressed by the world-but my journey toward Christ’s peace continues. I walk in God’s grace, blessed and filled with gratitude.

Prayer Phrase

Are we moving toward Jesus, the peaceful One?

Spiritual Practice

Gospel Contemplation (Mark 11:1-11)

Each week during Lent, you are invited to pray with a different gospel story from the life of Christ. Use your senses and imagination to enter the text. Allow it to come to life in you, observing details, noticing interactions, even engaging in dialogue. Notice where you find yourself in the story and how you feel about what is happening. Notice what it evokes in you or invites of you. Take time to journal or enter silent prayer to reflect on your experience and to sense where the Spirit may be leading you through this scriptural encounter.

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.

Click here to comment or read online.

Look Harder
Susan Naylor of Oak Hill, VA, USA

Then after this he said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.” The disciples said to him, “Rabbi, the Jews were just now trying to stone you, and are you going there again?” Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Those who walk during the day do not stumble, because they see the light of this world. But those who walk at night stumble, because the light is not in them.” -John 11:7-10

As I journeyed in 2020 with the question, “Are we moving toward Jesus, the peaceful One?” I took inventory of the 2020 milestones. Excitement for the second decade of the 2000’s quickly turned to the fear and loss of an ongoing pandemic, divisions between friends, family, and acquaintances through politics, health guidelines, and conspiracies, to name a few. And through it all, “Are we moving toward Jesus, the Peaceful One?”

During this Lenten season, we remember the life and lessons of Jesus as we lament the coming events of Holy Week. Lament, however, is first and foremost truth telling. It begins by challenging the way things are. Lament names what is not right in the world. If we are moving towards Jesus, we must walk in the light as commissioned disciples modeling Christ in our every word and action.

However, embodying the Christ, moving toward Jesus every day, wraps comfort around the personal milestones of 2020: holidays and celebrations without extended family and close friends, relationships challenged, changed, and at times broken, positive virus tests, online school, and limited friend contact, no spontaneous coffee outings-the list is long. If we are moving toward Jesus, we do not stumble in the dark. We may have judged 2020 harshly, and the milestones look dark. But if we’re walking our journey toward and with Jesus, look harder.

Technology brought extended family and friends together. Smaller celebrations connected the closest of relations for unforgettable memories. Relationships viewed in new ways with new opportunities to journey. Family and employers provided support in this virus battle. Online classrooms brought compassion for students and teachers and offered new ways of learning. Maybe there were no spontaneous coffee outings, but joy arrived in unexpected cards in the mail, a quick phone call, or email.

The question is, “Are we?” not “Am I?” Together, let us walk in the light, sharing the light of Jesus with those in darkness. May we bring our light and sit in presence with those in lament. Today, let our voice of light break into the darkness of our world. Together we continue our journey toward Jesus, bringing to light His example of love and peace in our world.

God, where will your Spirit lead? Help us be fully awake and ready to respond. Grant us courage to risk something new and become a blessing of your love and peace. During this Lenten season, take courage to walk in the light; darkness is always there, but we are called to walk in, and to be, the light of Christ in our world.

Prayer Phrase

Are we moving toward Jesus, the peaceful One?

Spiritual Practice

Gospel Contemplation (Mark 11:1-11)

Each week during Lent, you are invited to pray with a different gospel story from the life of Christ. Use your senses and imagination to enter the text. Allow it to come to life in you, observing details, noticing interactions, even engaging in dialogue. Notice where you find yourself in the story and how you feel about what is happening. Notice what it evokes in you or invites of you. Take time to journal or enter silent prayer to reflect on your experience and to sense where the Spirit may be leading you through this scriptural encounter.

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.

Click here to comment or read online.

A Long Season of Making Space
Jenn Killpack of Raymore, MO, USA

Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,
who, though he was in the form of God,
  did not regard equality with God
  as something to be exploited,
but emptied himself,
  taking the form of a slave,
  being born in human likeness.
And being found in human form,
   he humbled himself
  and became obedient to the point of death-
  even death on a cross. -Philippians 2:5-8

Are we moving toward Jesus, the peaceful One?

What an interesting year to ponder this guiding question. So much of 2020 and even the beginnings of 2021 have felt as if we weren’t moving at all. Sheltering at home, staying away from friends and family, connecting only through screens and phones. But in other ways there was tremendous opportunity. Worshiping and connecting with friends who live across the world, spending more time with my immediate family, slowing down.

Without all the kids’ activities, evening practices, and other commitments, I had time to ponder how moving toward Jesus, the peaceful One, might look in the midst of a pandemic-how people’s health and safety were at stake and what my responsible action might be. I had time to really look at the racial injustice that brothers and sisters face every day and plan action that aligned with the compassion and justice that Jesus taught. I had time to think about what things I wanted to make space for in my life as our sense of normal shifted and began to settle.

To be honest, pretty much all of 2020 felt a little bit like Lent-a long season of setting aside, taking away, and making space. I wish I could say I have used this new time and space in my life to create diligent, new practices to deepen my discipleship. But I can’t. Lots of days I couldn’t think about one more heartbreaking thing and had just enough energy to whisper simple prayers like “please help” or “I can’t do this by myself” or “thank you.” I like to think God was totally ok with that.

As we travel this season of Lent again, I continue to hope… for more connections, for whispered prayers, for healing, for hugs, and for a continued desire to live like Jesus the peaceful One.

Prayer Phrase

Are we moving toward Jesus, the peaceful One?

Spiritual Practice

Gospel Contemplation (Mark 11:1-11)

Each week during Lent, you are invited to pray with a different gospel story from the life of Christ. Use your senses and imagination to enter the text. Allow it to come to life in you, observing details, noticing interactions, even engaging in dialogue. Notice where you find yourself in the story and how you feel about what is happening. Notice what it evokes in you or invites of you. Take time to journal or enter silent prayer to reflect on your experience and to sense where the Spirit may be leading you through this scriptural encounter.

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.

Click here to comment or read online.

Blessed Is the One Who Comes!
Andrew Bolton of Leicester, Leicestershire, England

The stone that the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. …Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.  -Psalm 118:22, 26

The story of Palm Sunday tells of Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem with the acclaim of a crowd that senses who he is. (This crowd is not the mob that will yell “Crucify him!” a few days later.) Jesus rides into the city on a donkey, not on a cavalry horse, a bicycle, or a tank. Jesus enters in peace, in the name of the Lord.

After arriving, Jesus cleanses the temple of those making outrageous profits by selling sacrificial animals to the devoted poor at exorbitant prices. After this prophetic protest, the chief priests, scribes, and leaders look for a way to kill Jesus (Mark 11:18, Luke 19:47).

Why is Jesus rejected? Because he stood up for justice for the poor, and he disturbed cheating profiteers occupying the most sacred space in Israel. It is always dangerous to be an effective activist, to stand up for justice, as Archbishop \xc3\x93scar Romero, Mahatma Gandhi, and Martin Luther King Jr. found out.

Jesus is scorned but is vindicated within a week. The stone rejected by the exploiting establishment nevertheless becomes the chief cornerstone of God’s coming kingdom.

Christ is willing to enter my life in peace, gently. He will cause disruption in the temple of soul, in my priorities, in my mixed motives, and I will complain and reject him. But when I find there is no other way to real life, he will offer to come again, full of grace. He will plant righteousness in my heart, if I let him. Then my new hunger for his nonviolent justice in the world also will get me in trouble.

Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord. Zion is coming!

Prayer Phrase

Are we moving toward Jesus, the peaceful One?

Spiritual Practice

Gospel Contemplation (Mark 11:1-11)

Each week during Lent, you are invited to pray with a different gospel story from the life of Christ. Use your senses and imagination to enter the text. Allow it to come to life in you, observing details, noticing interactions, even engaging in dialogue. Notice where you find yourself in the story and how you feel about what is happening. Notice what it evokes in you or invites of you. Take time to journal or enter silent prayer to reflect on your experience and to sense where the Spirit may be leading you through this scriptural encounter.

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.

Click here to comment or read online.

O Christ, the Healer
Fred Pratt Green

Seek the LORD while he may be found,
  call upon him while he is near;
let the wicked forsake their way,
  and the unrighteous their thoughts;
let them return to the LORD, that he may have mercy on them,
  and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
  nor are your ways my ways, says the LORD.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
  so are my ways higher than your ways
  and my thoughts than your thoughts. -Isaiah 55:6 9

“O Christ, the Healer, We Have Come”

O Christ, the healer, we have come
to pray for health, to plead for friends.
How can we fail to be restored
when reached by love that never ends?

From every ailment flesh endures
our bodies clamor to be freed;
yet in our hearts we would confess
that wholeness is our deepest need.

In conflicts that destroy our health
we recognize the world’s disease;
our common life declares our ills.
Is there no cure, O Christ, for these?

Grant that we all, made one in faith,
in your community may find
the wholeness that, enriching us,
shall reach the whole of humankind.

-Fred Pratt Green, \xc2\xa9 1989 Hope Publishing Company, Community of Christ Sings 544

Prayer Phrase

Are we moving toward Jesus, the peaceful One?

Spiritual Practice

Gospel Contemplation (John 13:1-15)

Each week during Lent, you are invited to pray with a different gospel story from the life of Christ. Use your senses and imagination to enter the text. Allow it to come to life in you, observing details, noticing interactions, even engaging in dialogue. Notice where you find yourself in the story and how you feel about what is happening. Notice what it evokes in you or invites of you. Take time to journal or enter silent prayer to reflect on your experience and to sense where the Spirit may be leading you through this scriptural encounter.

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.

Click here to comment or read online.

Temper Tantrums and Nonviolence
Katie Harmon-McLaughlin, Spiritual Formation Ministries

We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose. -Romans 8:28

Are we moving toward Jesus, the peaceful one? I confess that as I respond to this question, I tend to think in the communal-us (the whole global church) and the universal (all the pressing issues of justice and peace that need our urgent response). While this is important, I find that this Lenten season, as I continue to stay at home amid the pandemic, the question is becoming much more personal and particular.

When my daughter is throwing a perfectly developmentally-appropriate temper tantrum, how do I respond? How does my capacity to bear and hold all the realities of her life impact her evolving understanding of peaceful response? Do I react in anger? Do I diminish or dismiss her? Or can I stay lovingly, but firmly, present in the midst of the screams as tension rises in me, as weariness frays my edges? Can I stay present to see her and the sacredness within her, even as she whines and rebels and kicks and screams? In Parenting for Peace: Raising the Next Generation of Peacemakers, Mary Axnes reminds us that effective discipline in parenting starts with self-discipline. I can confirm that is true. That doesn’t mean I let my daughter get away with whatever she wants, but it does take practice to notice what is happening in me as I respond to what is happening in her. Some days we both end up frustrated and screaming. Other days I am able to breathe through the discomfort of toddler chaos to be lovingly present even as I hold boundaries that she will naturally test!

Though I’ve had lots of practice at home with my three-year-old, I can see how movements of tension, anger, and frustration boil up in me when I watch the news, scroll social media, or engage in dialogue with those with whom I disagree. Peaceful presence with other adults also requires self-discipline, to notice and honor what is rising within, but to not let it be the unexamined source of my reaction. Jesus, the peaceful One, calls me deeper. Just like with my three-year-old, peace does not mean anything goes, but it is a willingness to stay consciously, intentionally present in the discomfort and chaos of whatever is happening to hold open a space that trusts intrinsically the sacredness that is before me.

Eventually, the storm of toddler outburst settles, my little one is back in my arms, and I hold her close. In my steadfast presence, I hope she is learning something about peaceful, nonviolent response. And in the moments when I lose my capacity for peaceful presence, I hope she is also learning something important about forgiveness and grace.

Prayer Phrase

Are we moving toward Jesus, the peaceful One?

Spiritual Practice

Gospel Contemplation (John 13:1-15)

Each week during Lent, you are invited to pray with a different gospel story from the life of Christ. Use your senses and imagination to enter the text. Allow it to come to life in you, observing details, noticing interactions, even engaging in dialogue. Notice where you find yourself in the story and how you feel about what is happening. Notice what it evokes in you or invites of you. Take time to journal or enter silent prayer to reflect on your experience and to sense where the Spirit may be leading you through this scriptural encounter.

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.

Click here to comment or read online.

Courageously Challenge, Pursue Peace
Brittany Mangelson of Saratoga Springs, UT, USA

Lift up your eyes and fix them on the place beyond the horizon to which you are sent. Journey in trust, assured that the great and marvelous work is for this time and for all time. -Doctrine and Covenants 161:1a

“But what does it actually mean to move toward Jesus, the peaceful One?” This question was asked in earnest from a seeker who was looking for solace and refuge from the ongoing challenges 2020 brought us. Racial injustice in the streets and structures of society, illness and death from the global pandemic, and economic uncertainty that was making once hidden inequalities so much more visible.

As I chatted with this seeker over Zoom, my eyes filled with tears. I was overwhelmed with sorrow for my Black sisters and brothers. I was worried about friends and family and the impact COVID-19 was having on them. The question whether we are moving toward Jesus, the peaceful One, suddenly became a real challenge in the face of so much. A familiar scripture came to mind that seemed to hold this tension well: “Courageously challenge cultural, political, and religious trends that are contrary to the reconciling and restoring purposes of God. Pursue peace” (Doctrine and Covenants 163: 3b). As I shared this scripture with the seeker, tears filled both of our eyes.

Walking the way with Jesus, the peaceful One isn’t passive. We are not called to stand by and pretend everything is okay for the sake of peace. Instead, doing the work Jesus calls us to requires us to be awake and ready to respond to the needs around us. It requires us to listen, to act, and to invite others to join us in peacemaking and the work of justice and restoration. It’s not easy, but we haven’t been promised an easy path. My new friend was intrigued by the invitation to hold this tension: courageously challenge, pursue peace. I hope you join her in following Jesus, the peaceful One.

Prayer Phrase

Are we moving toward Jesus, the peaceful One?

Spiritual Practice

Gospel Contemplation (John 13:1-15)

Each week during Lent, you are invited to pray with a different gospel story from the life of Christ. Use your senses and imagination to enter the text. Allow it to come to life in you, observing details, noticing interactions, even engaging in dialogue. Notice where you find yourself in the story and how you feel about what is happening. Notice what it evokes in you or invites of you. Take time to journal or enter silent prayer to reflect on your experience and to sense where the Spirit may be leading you through this scriptural encounter.

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.

Click here to comment or read online.

Awaken to the Role of Midwife
Robin Linkhart, Council of Twelve Apostles

Therefore the LORD waits to be gracious to you; therefore he will rise up to show mercy to you.
For the LORD is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him. -Isaiah 30:18

Group discernment is a spiritual practice of opening ourselves to God and to one another in the process of decision making. It is a journey of discovery, awakening, and letting go. It is an exercise in careful listening and trust.

In May 2020, our spiritual directors introduced us to the concept of Art Spirituality. Art gives voice to beauty, truth, possibility, visions, dreams, pain, grief, illumination, conflict, death, life, change, the sacred presence, and infinite other dimensions of the human experience throughout the ages.

The practice of Art Spirituality is discovering an artistic creation (poem, song, photograph, painting, sculpture, weaving, dance, drama, words from a novel, and more) that draws you in and speaks to you. Our assignment was to find it and then spend time paying close attention to what it was speaking to us.

I discovered a grove of closely knit trees surrounding a tree whose interwoven branches formed a womblike structure in the center. An organic community encircling the image of gestation captured in photograph. A snapshot of living art created by members of the plant kingdom whose silent chorus prophetically sang words that pressed upon my heart an invitation: “Awaken to the role of midwife.” The image drew me into remembering all the times God has labored on our behalf, bringing forth from us something new. Holding us as we breathed through the pain, letting go of a pre-determined shape and form and structure. Encouraging us to embrace what was being born. God, the midwife, coaching us in the way of suffering love and the process of becoming-a journey of transformation clinging to hope in the face of uncertainty and fear. An exercise in careful listening and trust.

I opened my hymnal and softly sang the words to “Womb of Life and Source of Being” (Community of Christ Sings 62). Our time for personal meditation ended and we moved into the community spiritual practice. Every member of the council shared the artistic expression they had discovered and what it spoke to them. The blessing of the individual practice geometrically exploded into multiple dimensions of seeing and hearing through the voice and experience of each sister and brother. The Holy Spirit filled the miles between us as we peered into each other’s faces on our computer screens, and the ties that bind held us close.

Lent is a time to open ourselves to God. It is a time to practice careful listening, to trust as we journey the way of suffering love that leads to the cross of Christ, to prepare for the celebration of transformation from life to death to life anew. “Trust what is being born. Have faith in divine purposes. Persist in Hope” (Stephen M. Veazey, “Words of Counsel,” 13 April 2019).

Prayer Phrase

Are we moving toward Jesus, the peaceful One?

Spiritual Practice

Gospel Contemplation (John 13:1-15)

Each week during Lent, you are invited to pray with a different gospel story from the life of Christ. Use your senses and imagination to enter the text. Allow it to come to life in you, observing details, noticing interactions, even engaging in dialogue. Notice where you find yourself in the story and how you feel about what is happening. Notice what it evokes in you or invites of you. Take time to journal or enter silent prayer to reflect on your experience and to sense where the Spirit may be leading you through this scriptural encounter.

Today’s Prayer for Peace

Engage in a daily practice of praying for peace in our world. Click hereto read today’s prayer and be part of this practice of peace.

Click here to comment or read online.