Category Archives: Daily Bread Devotional

Questions for a Year’s End
Katie Harmon-McLaughlin of Independence, MO, USA

For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all and is generous to all who call on him. For, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” -Romans 10:12-13

When, this past year, did I find myself captured by wonder?
What took my breath away in awe?
When did I find myself surprised by divine grace?

When, this past year, did I find my heart broken?
When did it break into pieces and when did it break open into deeper love?
How is it with my heart as I approach these final hours of this year?

What contradictions did I hold? What tensions ignited within me?
When did I experience the most growth?
When did I find myself retreating into the comfortable and familiar?

Whose presence has shaped and formed me this year?
What connections have sustained me?
What relationships call for my attention now that are in need of reconciliation, resolution, or tending?

When was I most aware of God’s presence?
When did I feel most alive, in the flow of the energy of that good Spirit?
What does that Spirit invite me to see now with greater clarity that I could not have seen a year ago today?

What did I think would happen that didn’t?
What happened that I never could have planned?
When did it bring devastation, and when did I taste delight?

If I were to summarize the fullness of all that has happened in this year to the me of the past, what would I say?
If God were to be speaking just one word to me about all that has transpired, what word would I receive?
How, now, do I stand on the threshold of yet another year, this wild gift of sacred life?

Prayer Phrase

“Trust what is being born.”

Spiritual Practice

Jesus, the Peaceful One

We have spent this year with a guiding question: Are we moving closer to Jesus, the Peaceful One? As we near the end of this calendar year, we review how this question has been shaping and forming us. In our thoughts, words, and actions, have we been embodying Jesus, the Peaceful One? What might it look like to move closer to Jesus, the Peaceful One as we make space in our lives for Christ incarnate this Advent season?

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.

New Challenges, New Creations
Susan Naylor of Oak Hill, VA, USA

Therefore, continue to be strong in faith. To you who hear my voice and know my promises I will reveal myself and give my peace, even in the midst of your uncertainties. Indeed, I am longing to pour out greater blessings than you have ever known if you, my people, will open yourselves through preparation, study, and prayer. -Doctrine and Covenants 158:11a-b

That first cry was the most amazing sound-there she was, 8 pounds, 7 ounces, 21 \xc2\xbd inches long, our first-born child. The human body is and does remarkable things. The best advice I received when I was pregnant was, “Trust your body; you know what feels right and to what you should pay attention.” Trust what is being born.

Our 2020 year has been challenging. Not challenging in the way life challenges us typically. Pandemic, hurricanes, wildfires, the world in lock-down, personal and social gatherings disrupted, education online, fear of the unknown and unseen, and yet, trust-trust what is being born.

As the world closed down and we realized in-person reunions would not happen in 2020, a myriad of feelings became real-how can we replicate this personal experience online? I don’t know where to start. I’m not tech-savvy-we’ll skip this year. And yet, out of the void came incredible experiences.

In the September leaders debriefing, it reminded me of that first cry, a breath of fresh air as responses included:

• We had 19 states represented. It was an amazing experience.
• When our sessions ended, no one wanted to get off the video conference.
• Outstanding!
• Many people came and said if this had been any other way, they would not have been able to join. It gave us a format; the material provided us with the opportunity to use people from all over the mission center and age groups; reunion this year was truly a family camp.
• We loved hanging out in “the (virtual) dining hall” -bring your lunch and see who’s there, the joy of getting to know people we haven’t known before. Our discussions were incredible.
• We sent a fellowship box to each registered family. We hoped to send out maybe 25-we sent 67 boxes!
• People are considering going to reunion that haven’t been before.

“So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!” (2 Corinthians 5:17). God is good. In Christ, everything old becomes new. This Advent season, we wait in anticipation-trust what is being born.

Prayer Phrase

“Trust what is being born.”

Spiritual Practice

Jesus, the Peaceful One

We have spent this year with a guiding question: Are we moving closer to Jesus, the Peaceful One? As we near the end of this calendar year, we review how this question has been shaping and forming us. In our thoughts, words, and actions, have we been embodying Jesus, the Peaceful One? What might it look like to move closer to Jesus, the Peaceful One as we make space in our lives for Christ incarnate this Advent season?

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.

Spiritual “Upgrading”
Nina Warriner of Bath, NY, USA

But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, in order to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as children. And because you are children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are…a child, and if a child then also an heir, through God. -Galatians 4:4-7

I consider myself moderately computer literate. I am pretty comfortable with what I know but seldom purposely go looking for new applications. I don’t like to run updates and typically put them off until my computer forces them, mainly because things end up looking or functioning differently. I begrudgingly have to adapt to the changes or spend a lot of time trying to get my computer “back to the way it was.” There are times I struggle with my computer and ask myself, “What if there is no going back?” A better question would probably be, “What if going back ultimately means not moving forward?”

In the early months of church closure and reunion cancelation, I definitely felt a sense of loss. I desired to gather in sacred community. Yet as I reflect, I realize that sacred community has still existed; it has just “looked different.”

I have had the opportunity to worship with brothers and sisters from different states, time zones, and even different countries without needing to travel anywhere. I have been blessed to listen to stories of love, pain, hope, injustice, courage, and faith. I have been enriched with a diversity of connections and people sharing from their personal passions. I have had the opportunity to draw my circle wide and create new, authentic, meaningful relationships.

Instead of desiring to “go back” to the “default setting,” I’m asking myself, what about these experiences should be considered an update or maybe even an upgrade? Our spiritual journey is one in which we are continually challenged to reflect on our inward selves-our hardware and inner programming-so our outward selves-the applications of our lives, our functionality-are current, relevant, and the best upgrades we have to offer.

We need to save the good “settings” and “updates” so we don’t find ourselves simply relying on our “default” mode, especially if “going back” doesn’t move us forward!

Where is the Spirit trying to “run new updates” in me?

Prayer Phrase

“Trust what is being born.”

Spiritual Practice

Jesus, the Peaceful One

We have spent this year with a guiding question: Are we moving closer to Jesus, the Peaceful One? As we near the end of this calendar year, we review how this question has been shaping and forming us. In our thoughts, words, and actions, have we been embodying Jesus, the Peaceful One? What might it look like to move closer to Jesus, the Peaceful One as we make space in our lives for Christ incarnate this Advent season?

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.

Guided by the Spirit
Becky Savage of Lee’s Summit, MO, USA

Guided by the Spirit, Simeon came into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him what was customary under the law, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God… -Luke 2:27-28

My husband and I waited nearly eight years for our first daughter. Multiple tests, medications, procedures, and surgeries unsuccessfully resolved our infertility. We relied on one promise from our adoption social worker: “One day you will be parents.”

Tena was 22 months old when we adopted her. She traveled from place to place with her birth mom for the first months of her life. When Tena’s mom decided to place her daughter for adoption, she told the social worker she could do so “because she knew Tena would sleep in the same bed every night.” Only a truly loving mother could relinquish a child for adoption, particularly one she protected for nearly two years.

Greg and I made a commitment to have Tena blessed. The sacrament of blessing of children follows a pattern similar to Mary and Joseph bringing Jesus to the Temple for a blessing, described in the second chapter of Luke. Elsewhere in scripture, Jesus also encouraged parents to bring their babies and children to him for blessings.

We responded to this guidance by bringing Tena to the elders for a blessing. She sat in my lap while Greg touched her shoulder. The congregation joined us in celebrating the sacrament. God’s grace blessed the new union of childless parents and relinquished child. Guided by the Spirit, parents, priesthood, and congregation members committed to loving care for the sake of a child. We all agreed to help Tena grow and thrive as a disciple of Jesus Christ.

Prayer Phrase

“Trust what is being born.”

Spiritual Practice

Jesus, the Peaceful One

We have spent this year with a guiding question: Are we moving closer to Jesus, the Peaceful One? As we near the end of this calendar year, we review how this question has been shaping and forming us. In our thoughts, words, and actions, have we been embodying Jesus, the Peaceful One? What might it look like to move closer to Jesus, the Peaceful One as we make space in our lives for Christ incarnate this Advent season?

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.

Jesus Comes
Rev. Dan C. Damon, FHS, Pinole, CA, USA

 “Like a child love would send to reveal and to mend, like a child and a friend, Jesus comes.” -“like a child” CCS 403

Daniel Charles Damon is an internationally published writer of hymn texts and tunes whose work appears in many hymnals. He is an ordained elder in the United Methodist Church and a jazz pianist who plays at venues in the Bay Area. In 2016 he was named a Fellow of The Hymn Society in the United States and Canada. Dan teaches church music at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California. Recently, Dan and his colleague, Nancy Hall, used Community of Christ Sings as the textbook for a college course, A Cry for Justice in Hymnody. He and Nancy were interviewed for a Project Zion podcast found at: http://www.projectzionpodcast.org/episode-221-community-of-christ-sings-at-graduate-theological-union-in-berkeley-california/.

For Daily Bread, Dan was asked to reflect on his hymn, “like a child” CCS 403. He quickly responded,
“It is a pleasure to remember the writing of what has been called my ‘signature hymn'” [Singing the Faith, Soundings of Lyrical Theology in the Methodist Tradition, 2020].

I wrote “like a child” in October 1992 while under the influence of e e cummings, a poet known to avoid punctuation and upper case letters. I like to write simply. It is a deep part of my poetic voice. I was thinking in a childlike way and began to use lines with only three syllables: “like a child/love would send/to reveal/and to mend/like a child/and a friend/Jesus comes.” Once I had that pattern, I knew I would be able to write a good text.

I worked for about a month trying different lines and thoughts. I was able to express my Christology in this lyric. God, who is love, sent Jesus, not to die, but to show us the way to live. Jesus comes to us today walking with the poor and oppressed. It concludes with our response to Jesus: we receive and believe Jesus comes. This text shows my personal relationship with Jesus, formed when I was a child.

After wrestling with the text, I sat down at a Steinway grand piano in the chapel at Asilomar in Pacific Grove, California, and wrote the tune in a few minutes. I shared it for the first time that same day at the Autumn Camp Farthest Out.

Alleluia!

Prayer Phrase

“Trust what is being born.”

Spiritual Practice

Jesus, the Peaceful One

We have spent this year with a guiding question: Are we moving closer to Jesus, the Peaceful One? As we near the end of this calendar year, we review how this question has been shaping and forming us. In our thoughts, words, and actions, have we been embodying Jesus, the Peaceful One? What might it look like to move closer to Jesus, the Peaceful One as we make space in our lives for Christ incarnate this Advent season?

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.

Trust in What Is Being Born
Ron Harmon, Council of Twelve Apostles

Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for see-I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people; to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. -Luke 2:9-11

I remember as though it were yesterday the birth of my three children. Let me first acknowledge that we fathers have it easy. We have the privilege of just taking it all in. I can only describe the event itself as intense, unsettling, and full of immense joy.

As I reflect on each experience, it is in those first moments after birth where the real trust begins. You have responsibility for this precious little life that is totally dependent on your loving care. They don’t send you home with an owner’s manual, and even Google can provide conflicting answers to the daily questions that arise.

You soon discover that birth is only the beginning. Birth launches a process of discovery, struggle, uncertainty, and endless joy. You can’t predict what each day will bring but learn to trust in your capacity to learn, adapt, and grow. In moments of struggle, you discover something deep within-an inner strength and capacity to navigate each challenge along the way.

I imagine Mary must have felt the full spectrum of emotions in the hours after the birth of her son. We read in Luke 2:17-19, “When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.  But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.” She must have held close feelings of indescribable love and uncertainty in those first moments. She did not know they would be fleeing to Egypt or that this precious life would become a threat to the most powerful empire on earth.

As we celebrate the birth of the Peaceful One, we pause and hold close in our hearts a love that knows no bounds. We treasure these moments knowing beyond the confines of our hearts are conflict and suffering. We trust not in the birth alone but what is being born in each of us this day and every day. We trust in the vision of a new community where each precious life will be held in loving care.

Prayer Phrase

“Trust what is being born.”

Spiritual Practice

Jesus, the Peaceful One

We have spent this year with a guiding question: Are we moving closer to Jesus, the Peaceful One? As we near the end of this calendar year, we review how this question has been shaping and forming us. In our thoughts, words, and actions, have we been embodying Jesus, the Peaceful One? What might it look like to move closer to Jesus, the Peaceful One as we make space in our lives for Christ incarnate this Advent season?

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.

From Mourning to Joy
Ryan Pitt of Bayonne, NJ, USA

They replied, “Surely you are not also from Galilee, are you? Search and you will see that no prophet is to arise from Galilee.” -John 7:52

Christmas will be here shortly which means there\’s plenty of “searching” ahead. Best travel itineraries, housing options, recipes, pageantry, family activities, and perfect gifts. I frequently find myself caught in the commotion of Christmas festivities and lose sight of the reason to celebrate.

Surely something good can arise from chaos? 

After several years of discernment, a congregation in northern New Jersey decided to sell church property in December 2019. Declining numbers and aging participants made financial sustainability unrealistic. Though it was heartbreaking, the remnant knew it was time to act.

Miraculously, the small congregation sought meaning and purpose out of emotional loss. What easily could have been a linear financial transaction was birthed into a celebration of life and memory of the property. Mourning turned to livelihood as they reconnected with members not seen in years, and memories rekindled from forgotten photo albums and stories. On Sunday, August 30, 2020-five days after the property sale finalized-the congregation led an online worship. It was a message emphasizing God’s promise of new life.

Yes, something good arose from chaos.

Honestly, I empathize with the inquisitors in John 7, especially when it comes to unexpectedness. I want to change that. This year, I want to embody the Christmas spirit, and gaze in adoration into divine mystery. O come all ye faithful! It’s time to look beyond the commotion and into the horizon of possibility.

Prayer Phrase

“Trust what is being born.”

Spiritual Practice

Jesus, the Peaceful One

We have spent this year with a guiding question: Are we moving closer to Jesus, the Peaceful One? As we near the end of this calendar year, we review how this question has been shaping and forming us. In our thoughts, words, and actions, have we been embodying Jesus, the Peaceful One? What might it look like to move closer to Jesus, the Peaceful One as we make space in our lives for Christ incarnate this Advent season?

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.

The Promise of New Birth
Shandra Newcom of Boulder, CO, USA

I will sing of your steadfast love, O Lord, forever; with my mouth I will proclaim your faithfulness to all generations. I declare that your steadfast love is established forever; your faithfulness is as firm as the heavens. -Psalm 89:1-2

It’s an exciting experience, waiting for a baby to be born. It seems to be a slow process and yet, before you know it, there they are-emerging as a beloved child of God bringing light and life into the world. During this often chaotic time of uncertainty, it helps to know that we are blessed to be waiting on the birth of babies.

My family is expanding any time now. A new baby is coming and, after six months of “sheltering in place,” I’m looking forward to the joy and promise that comes with new life. I look forward to being an aunt. To holding new life. I’ve been living in a “bubble” in my home in order to be available to this child.

I rest in the promise that comes with birth. I trust that which is being born and look forward to welcoming this baby into my life, which will never be the same.

Trust takes dedicated attention. We remember the stories of those who have gone before and turn toward that which will be. During this time of Advent we see before us all that is possible: compassion, hope, a deep sense of love. However, we also recognize those things that hold us back: fear, individualism, systemic injustice.

In the midst of all of that, I have to believe that the world that is opening and waiting for babies can be a place of hope and promise. Even though it feels like the world has stopped, it keeps turning and embracing the new life being born.

This is the world as God created it to be-open to babies. Of course, we know that the baby Jesus was born into a world that, while desperately needing his message of God’s love for all, for the most part wouldn’t be able to hear it. But all that story, for us as we move into Advent, belongs in the not-yet.

For now, we have the promise of a baby born with mangers and animals and shepherds and a star.

The baby that will be born any day now into my family and into my arms will, of course, not have the same story as the Christ-child. But they will share something powerful: the ability to call and act God’s reign into being. We all share that ability. And it is in that promise that we must trust that which is being born: the peaceful reign of God.

It is no less than that to which we are called.

Prayer Phrase

“Trust what is being born.”

Spiritual Practice

Jesus, the Peaceful One

We have spent this year with a guiding question: Are we moving closer to Jesus, the Peaceful One? As we near the end of this calendar year, we review how this question has been shaping and forming us. In our thoughts, words, and actions, have we been embodying Jesus, the Peaceful One? What might it look like to move closer to Jesus, the Peaceful One as we make space in our lives for Christ incarnate this Advent season?

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.

Waiting
Larry McGuire of Gilbert, AZ, USA

Hear, O my people of the church, I am Jesus Christ of whom you have sung and testified and in whose name you pray. I am the spirit of love and peace which is in the world and yet not known by the world. I have heard your prayers which have been raised to me without ceasing, and I have sent my healing ministry as a dove to be in your midst. Therefore, lift up your hearts and rejoice in the promises which have been given for your assurance. Have I not said it is the Father’s good pleasure to give to the kingdom? -Doctrine and Covenants 157:11-12

Trust what is being born.

Hope is often born in darkness. I read that somewhere and wished it were true. Facing situations of violence or grief so thick it was difficult to breathe, I was wrapped in a reality that there was only darkness and despair. I did not see hope. The voices of cynicism and hatred drowned out the words “you are enough” or “do not be afraid.” The future was so unknown and uncertain that no map or lighthouse could point the way forward. There was darkness, uncertainty, and piercing questions of how to survive the injustice, hatred, and suffering. This has been a snapshot of what I’ve experienced in the several months of isolation, zoom meetings, online worship, and restrictions on every aspect of life.

Trust what is being born? Messages of encouraging words sent in a text message or videos posted online to help navigate our reality give some relief, but the darkness settles in on another night. Prayers are offered but sometimes they get stuck on the ceiling or my mouth is so dry, unable to speak, they are choked out and fall unspoken. Trust what is being born?

And then, a word is shared, a hug extended, a listening ear is offered, and something begins to stir within that invites me to take one step toward hope. I wait in silence, hoping to hear a word or a phrase that points a way forward. Waiting is hard. Silence is scary. And in the midst of waiting, I realize I’m being invited to wait with silence. It’s an invitation to suspend my expectations, to see the reality of my day not as foregone endings but as unfolding possibilities.

We wait, we struggle, we sit, we hide, we embrace with arms wide open. Advent-an uncertain future that has been embraced for centuries-continues with us. We aren’t simply readers of that story; we are participants in that story. We wait and we choose. It’s often in the unknowing that faith takes root. It is in that dark soil that hope begins to show itself. Trust what is being born.

Prayer Phrase

“Trust what is being born.”

Spiritual Practice

Jesus, the Peaceful One

We have spent this year with a guiding question: Are we moving closer to Jesus, the Peaceful One? As we near the end of this calendar year, we review how this question has been shaping and forming us. In our thoughts, words, and actions, have we been embodying Jesus, the Peaceful One? What might it look like to move closer to Jesus, the Peaceful One as we make space in our lives for Christ incarnate this Advent season?

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.

Guided by Hope
Stassi Cramm, First Presidency

The Spirit of the One you follow is the spirit of love and peace. That Spirit seeks to abide in the hearts of those who would embrace its call and live its message. The path will not always be easy, the choices will not always be clear, but the cause is sure and the Spirit will bear witness to the truth, and those who live the truth will know the hope and the joy of discipleship in the community of Christ. Amen. -Doctrine and Covenants 161:7 (emphasis added)

The First Presidency meets weekly when we are all available. We always start with a time of worship and reflection. One day we were using the spiritual practice of Dwelling in the Word. Our focus was on Doctrine and Covenants 161:7. I found myself drawn to the two phrases that are bolded in this scripture.

As these phrases swirled in my mind, I thought about the focus of hope, love, joy, and peace in Advent and our mission statement. Advent is the season of expectant waiting. This means we don’t wait idly for what is being born. We are invited to be engaged in the process and trust what is being born as the Spirit shapes our expectations.

Like the prophets of old, we are guided by stubborn hope that God’s vision of Shalom will be fulfilled. Like Mary and Joseph, we journey in love for God and each other. Like the shepherds, we choose joy over fear and seek to find God’s purposes revealed in the world. Like the angels, we sing and act to bring peace on Earth and good will to all humanity and creation.

Perhaps the link between Advent and our mission statement was intentional. May our Advent journey inform us about the nature of the communities we are called to promote. May we embrace the promises in Doctrine and Covenants 161:7 remembering hope and joy come when together we embrace and live the message of Jesus, the peaceful, one who loves all people.

Prayer Phrase

“Trust what is being born.”

Spiritual Practice

Jesus, the Peaceful One

We have spent this year with a guiding question: Are we moving closer to Jesus, the Peaceful One? As we near the end of this calendar year, we review how this question has been shaping and forming us. In our thoughts, words, and actions, have we been embodying Jesus, the Peaceful One? What might it look like to move closer to Jesus, the Peaceful One as we make space in our lives for Christ incarnate this Advent season?

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.