Category Archives: Daily Bread Devotional

God Touched My Heart
Julie Conway-Sword of Gainesville, FL, USA

In Him we live and move and have our being. -Acts 17:28

It was just a routine check, or so I thought, at the dermatologist’s office. To my shock I emerged with a diagnosis of two basal cell carcinomas that needed in-office surgery. “That’s never happened to me before,” I said to the nurse. But then she helped me understand that it could stem from youthful sunbathing activities. “At 86?” I thought.

Then I sensed God starting to minister to me about this matter. A friend in my neighborhood prayer group offered her presence and transportation to and from the first surgery. When I thought to console myself with a dark chocolate, coconut haystack at the chocolate shop, the clerk shared her father’s recent similar experience, which he “sailed through,” she said. My older sister said, “Julie, I’ve been having these surgeries monthly for the last twenty years-they’re not a big deal!” I sensed God touching my heart all that day.

I think God was encouraging me to “touch someone else’s heart today, and every day!”

Pass It On

It only takes a spark to get a fire going
And soon all those around can warm up in the glowing
That’s how it is with God’s love once you’ve experienced it
You’ll spread His Love to everyone
You’ll want to pass it on.

-Kurt Kaiser, \xc2\xa9 1969 Bud John Songs, Inc.

Prayer Phrase

My ordinary life is a sacred place.

Spiritual Practice

Sacramental Living

“…our everyday ordinary lives are also sacred places, or put another way, the sacred place of our living. As dwellers within the Sacredness of Creation, there is potential to be aware and appreciate the holy within the ordinary. You may remember times when it felt like you were seeing the world through God’s eyes. That’s a good description for what it means to live sacramentally-to sense divine Spirit amid daily activities.” -Jane M. Gardner, “Sacramental Living,” September/October 2019 Herald, p. 5

How are you invited to live sacramentally today?

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.

Our Past and Our Present
Douglas Graves of Burbank, CA, USA

“I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. Father, I desire that those also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory, which you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. -John 17:20-24

September 2019 I found myself struck by the writings from the past 70 years of the Daily Bread. I sensed in these writings my fellow human beings on a similar journey to express, in words, our encounters with the Divine. I saw how many of the struggles that we would think as modern issues were present in their stories and observations. We have a wonderful tradition of people who are gifted with words, music, art, ministry, and so much more.

I was also reminded of those who have left this mortal plane in the past several years. Those whose lives were examples to us, of what the living word of the gospel looked like personified. They volunteered tirelessly, they helped create buildings, they guided programs, and they loved this denomination and the people associated with it. They seemed like “giants” when we were children (and even as adults), and yet they always led us to grow and supported us with their love.

So here we are now. How have we built upon what has been so graciously gifted to us? How have we continued to love one another to create a community that extends beyond this moment? The best part (in my opinion) is we may never know how we will affect the future generations.

We have been called to live our lives fully expressing the love of Christ, and to show what God’s love means to those we come into contact with every day. Our lives lived out this way, is the best way to honor those who came before us. Our connectedness goes way back to a history and a fellowship that is sometimes hard to imagine. However, it is our connection today, in this place, in this moment that is needed the most.

Prayer Phrase

My ordinary life is a sacred place.

Spiritual Practice

Sacramental Living

“…our everyday ordinary lives are also sacred places, or put another way, the sacred place of our living. As dwellers within the Sacredness of Creation, there is potential to be aware and appreciate the holy within the ordinary. You may remember times when it felt like you were seeing the world through God’s eyes. That’s a good description for what it means to live sacramentally-to sense divine Spirit amid daily activities.” -Jane M. Gardner, “Sacramental Living,” September/October 2019 Herald, p. 5

How are you invited to live sacramentally today?

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.

Surprise Transformation
Louita Clothier of Lamoni, IA, USA

But know that the Lord has set apart the faithful for himself; he Lord hears when I call to him. When you are disturbed, do not sin; ponder it on your beds and be silent. Offer right sacrifices, and put your trust in the Lord. There are many who say, “O that we might see some good! Let the light of your face shine on us, O Lord!” You have put gladness in my heart more than when their grain and wine abound. I will both lie down and sleep in peace; for you alone, O Lord, make me lie down in safety. -Psalm 4:3-8

We have two giant honey locust trees in our back yard. Their lacy, fern-like foliage give us continual pleasure during the summer. But with the advance of fall, they always drop large, dark seedpods, covering the entire lawn and shrub beds with a blackish mess.

This fall the locusts seemed to produce an unusually profuse crop of the repulsive clutter, perhaps brought down by all the rain. Last Thursday, too tired for the enormous job of cleanup, I simply stood at the window and grumbled about the ugliness. Then Friday morning, as I looked out the same window, dawn revealed one of those wonderful miracles of nature. During the night the ground had been silently covered with a surprising layer of snow. The ugliness of the landscape had been transformed into clean, white beauty.

A similar miracle can be worked in our lives as we make our soiled and cluttered hearts available for the cleansing of God’s grace. And, unlike the seedpods that were only temporarily covered by the blanket of snow, through the power of prayer, the transformation of our lives can be total and enduring.

Prayer Phrase

My ordinary life is a sacred place.

Spiritual Practice

Sacramental Living

“…our everyday ordinary lives are also sacred places, or put another way, the sacred place of our living. As dwellers within the Sacredness of Creation, there is potential to be aware and appreciate the holy within the ordinary. You may remember times when it felt like you were seeing the world through God’s eyes. That’s a good description for what it means to live sacramentally-to sense divine Spirit amid daily activities.” -Jane M. Gardner, “Sacramental Living,” September/October 2019 Herald, p. 5

How are you invited to live sacramentally today?

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.

Here I Am, Lord
Barbara Kernohan of Richmond, Ontario, Canada

For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross.  -Colossians 1:19-20

After a disappointing business meeting at church, filled with anger and resentment, I struggled to attend church the next Sunday. It was hard to focus on the service and to remember to put all my feelings behind me and focus on worshiping God.

Toward the end of the service while we were singing the closing hymn “Here I Am, Lord,” I heard a voice from the back staircase. It was my young grandson, Justin, coming up the stairs saying, “I love you, Grandma.”

If it weren’t for the words he spoke that day, I am sure I would be worshiping somewhere else. At the time, there was a storefront church in my neighborhood. I remember passing by it on a regular basis and a strange feeling came over me that if I entered, I wouldn’t be back at my own congregation. Fortunately, I didn’t.

There will always be something that comes up to say to me, “Why bother?” and I am reminded over and over again, that this is where I am called to be and serve.

Prayer Phrase

My ordinary life is a sacred place.

Spiritual Practice

Sacramental Living

“…our everyday ordinary lives are also sacred places, or put another way, the sacred place of our living. As dwellers within the Sacredness of Creation, there is potential to be aware and appreciate the holy within the ordinary. You may remember times when it felt like you were seeing the world through God’s eyes. That’s a good description for what it means to live sacramentally-to sense divine Spirit amid daily activities.” -Jane M. Gardner, “Sacramental Living,” September/October 2019 Herald, p. 5

How are you invited to live sacramentally today?

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.

Mother’s Apron Strings
Joseph Andrews of Independence, MO, USA

…Be strong and courageous; do not be frightened or dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. -Joshua 1:9

It was so commonplace. When my mother came into the kitchen each morning, she reached for her apron hanging on a hook on the wall. She was then ready for action. Cooking, baking, and cleaning everything in sight. She wore that apron almost all day as she labored. It was used in countless ways-to dry her hands, to wrap up a child or dry a tear, to transfer a hot bread pan from oven to shelf, to gather vegetables from the garden, to carry cleaning supplies from room to room. The last thing at night before she went to bed, she returned the apron to its special hook, ready for the next day’s work.

When I was 18, I moved away from home to attend college in another town. Without sufficient financing, one year was all that could be accomplished. The realization that my draft number was coming up soon weighed heavily on me. So I signed on the dotted line and enlisted in the U.S. Navy. For a country boy who had never been out of his home state, this was a huge jump. After the preliminaries, I was sent to boot camp, then to Washington D.C. and beyond, serving in the U.S. Navy Band for four years before returning to college and completing my education to become a teacher.

The letters Mom wrote to me included her undying love, even though I was far from home. When I received cookies from her, I pictured her wearing her apron, expertly kneading and baking homemade bread, mixing cookies by hand, and making nutritious meals out of whatever the garden would provide.

Amidst my loneliness for those home scenes, one day at mail call I heard my name and responded, only to be given a letter from my mom that was a bit fatter than usual. Upon opening it, there was no note of any kind, only her apron strings. A grown guy in the Navy suddenly with tears in his eyes-I got her message loud and clear. Her apron strings were my tie to home. I carefully packed them in the bottom of my duffle bag the remainder of my service. Her love reached out to me no matter how far away I was sent.

Just so, God sends us out into the world with his continual abiding love. We can never forget our tie to His “apron strings.”

Prayer Phrase

My ordinary life is a sacred place.

Spiritual Practice

Sacramental Living

“…our everyday ordinary lives are also sacred places, or put another way, the sacred place of our living. As dwellers within the Sacredness of Creation, there is potential to be aware and appreciate the holy within the ordinary. You may remember times when it felt like you were seeing the world through God’s eyes. That’s a good description for what it means to live sacramentally-to sense divine Spirit amid daily activities.” -Jane M. Gardner, “Sacramental Living,” September/October 2019 Herald, p. 5

How are you invited to live sacramentally today?

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.

God of All Living
Karin Peter, president of seventy

Now he is God not of the dead, but of the living; for to him all of them are alive. -Luke 20:38

When I was growing up, my family ate dinner together around the table. It was at dinner that my father (a stickler for correct verbiage) would offer “teachable moments” regarding our use of the English language. Grammar was corrected, semantics explained, and double negatives forbidden. The way we use words to communicate precisely what we intend was, and still is, important to him. These dinner table lessons taught me to listen carefully to how others speak with me and to thoughtfully choose the words of my responses.

The Sadducees in today’s scripture were pretty confident that they could trip Jesus up with a carefully prepared riddle about a woman who married, and was widowed by, seven brothers. “In the resurrection,” they queried, “whose wife will the woman be?” Jesus replied that matrimonial law would not be important in the resurrection. “In that place,” Jesus said, “the dead are raised.” In the resurrection, we live again as children of God. The Sadducees realized that Jesus would not be provoked into an argument, and they acknowledged he had “spoken well.”

It is easy to get caught up in arguing our point or trying to convince others of our perspective. Jesus chose another way. He listened carefully to what was being communicated, and he chose his responses wisely. We can learn a great deal from this “teachable moment” between Jesus and the Sadducees. When we listen attentively, we honor the other person even if we disagree; and when we take a moment to carefully select how we will respond, we are able to offer clear insight into our understanding or belief. In Community of Christ we value the worth of each person, and we work to model unity in diversity. Through careful, attentive dialogue, we are able to share diverse perspectives without damaging our relationships with each other.

Prayer Phrase

My ordinary life is a sacred place.

Spiritual Practice

Sacramental Living

“…our everyday ordinary lives are also sacred places, or put another way, the sacred place of our living. As dwellers within the Sacredness of Creation, there is potential to be aware and appreciate the holy within the ordinary. You may remember times when it felt like you were seeing the world through God’s eyes. That’s a good description for what it means to live sacramentally-to sense divine Spirit amid daily activities.” -Jane M. Gardner, “Sacramental Living,” September/October 2019 Herald, p. 5

How are you invited to live sacramentally today?

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.

Pebble Resting in the River (Part 2)
Vickie McArthur of Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. -1 Corinthians 1:3

Many of us do not know how to allow our body and mind to rest. We always seem to be struggling in some way. In fact, struggling has become a kind of habit, a way of life where we have forgotten what living with ease even feels like. We cannot seem to resist being active, constantly looking for ways to distract ourselves from the subtle messages of healing, hidden deep in the protective armoring of our own hearts.

Thich Nhat Hanh says that resting may well be the most important practice for those of us born and raised in the Western world where our sense of worth is so caught up in the outer expression of what we do and what we have accomplished. Perhaps as we learn to rest, we will somehow learn how to be kinder to both ourselves and our planet. It’s all connected. When we take care of our own internal home, we take care of our collective home, Mother Earth.

Thich Nhat Hanh says that like the pebble in the river, during meditation we can allow ourselves to rest like the pebble at the bottom of the riverbed. In a posture of relaxation, we begin to let go of the struggle. We start to let go of our ideas about how meditation or yoga should be, or even try to stop our thoughts. We begin to rest in the natural flow of our own breath connected to the larger river of life. A spacious sense of awareness begins to open up. We may even find that this sense of spaciousness gets up off the mat or cushion and follows us back into our daily lives, even for a short time.

It takes a village to raise and take care of a child. It takes a village, a global village, to raise and take care of our planet. It takes a new evolution of consciousness and spirit that knows how to rest and renew itself, so we can all act from a place of creative empowerment instead of exhausted depletion, as we face the growing challenge of climate change and the global fear that is arising from seemingly hopeless situations around the world. Maybe the healing starts with our own body and mind. Maybe a Day of Nurturing Spirit is like the pebble tossed into the lake, with the effects rippling out in ever-expanding circles around the world.

Prayer Phrase

My ordinary life is a sacred place.

Spiritual Practice

Sacramental Living

“…our everyday ordinary lives are also sacred places, or put another way, the sacred place of our living. As dwellers within the Sacredness of Creation, there is potential to be aware and appreciate the holy within the ordinary. You may remember times when it felt like you were seeing the world through God’s eyes. That’s a good description for what it means to live sacramentally-to sense divine Spirit amid daily activities.” -Jane M. Gardner, “Sacramental Living,” September/October 2019 Herald, p. 5

How are you invited to live sacramentally today?

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 Pebble Resting in the River (Part 1)
Vickie McArthur of Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada

Suppose someone is holding a pebble and throws it in the air and the pebble begins to fall down into a river. After the pebble touches the surface of the water, it allows itself to sink slowly into the river. It will reach the bed of the river without any effort. Once the pebble is at the bottom of the river, it continues to rest. It allows the water to pass by. -Thich Nhat Hanh

We all carry within ourselves the seed of healing. We can choose to slow down and listen to our own innate wisdom, or be carried away by our own busyness, distracted by all the outer voices clamoring for our attention. Sadly, we tend to place responsibility for our own wellbeing and healing in the hands of others: our doctors, our therapists, our priests or teachers, our pills and medications. While it’s important to have a network of healthcare workers and healers, we often forget to listen to the most important voice of all, the knowing of our own intuitive heart. It’s time to reclaim that “knowing,” and trust in the “voice” that speaks to us out of the stillness of our own heart.

A Day of Nurturing Spirit is a beautiful gift to yourself. At Plum Village Monasteries (the Buddhist tradition of Thich Nhat Hanh), once a week there is a “lazy day,” a day for letting go of the usual monastic schedule, to simply breathe and rest and be. Like a pebble dropped into the river, you simply allow yourself to drop slowly through the layers of busyness, finally coming to rest at the bottom of the river. Other traditions might call this a Sabbath day, a day for letting go of all our usual responsibilities and preoccupations, taking time to listen to the deep “soul whispers” that we often ignore when we are too busy and distracted to notice.

When we dedicate a whole day to our own healing and wellness, we create a nourishing and comfortable environment where we can relax and renew our bodies, our minds, and our spirits. As we create a sincere desire to open ourselves to the highest healing for both ourselves and our planet, we open to a source of energy and love that can finally flow into us unimpeded by our usual thoughts and beliefs.

A Day of Nurturing Spirit addresses the vital needs of our deeper self through allowing ourselves the space to simply be. We let go of our to-do lists, our worry lists, our devices, our need to be constantly on the move and in the know. Like the pebble dropped in the river, we allow ourselves to fall and be held without any effort.

Prayer Phrase

My ordinary life is a sacred place.

Spiritual Practice

Sacramental Living

“…our everyday ordinary lives are also sacred places, or put another way, the sacred place of our living. As dwellers within the Sacredness of Creation, there is potential to be aware and appreciate the holy within the ordinary. You may remember times when it felt like you were seeing the world through God’s eyes. That’s a good description for what it means to live sacramentally-to sense divine Spirit amid daily activities.” -Jane M. Gardner, “Sacramental Living,” September/October 2019 Herald, p. 5

How are you invited to live sacramentally today?

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.

Morning Devotions
Elizabeth MacDonald of Seaside, OR, USA

For those who desire life and desire to see good days, let them keep their tongues from evil and their lips from speaking deceit; let the turn away from evil and do good; let them seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil. -1 Peter 3:10-12

I enjoyed the recent Daily Bread readings taken from the last 70 years of the Daily Bread publications. They stirred up my memories of growing up in the 50’s and 60’s; a lot of that time was spent attending church services and activities.

My parents were married in 1946; I was born in 1951. I remember the Daily Bread arriving in the mail as a small paperback publication either once a month or every other month. I remember my parents reading the devotionals to us-my sister, brother, and me-as well as sharing them in worship services. When the Daily Bread was published in hardcover annually, my parents always made sure their copy was ready to begin the new year.

I remember seeing my parents early every morning sitting at the kitchen table, coffee cups at hand, sharing the morning’s Daily Bread, then joining hands and praying. My parents were busy, hard-working people. They always had a large garden, animals to feed, and three children to raise; my dad was a logger, and both my parents were very active in the church. It is amazing to me that they took time every morning before the demands of the day to share this time together.

Watching them share this time together every morning has inspired me over the years to develop my own morning devotional time. I now rise early enough each morning to read two daily devotionals and at least one scripture reading. I share thoughts for the day with my husband and pray, listening for God’s voice in the early morning hours.

Prayer Phrase

My ordinary life is a sacred place.

Spiritual Practice

Sacramental Living

“…our everyday ordinary lives are also sacred places, or put another way, the sacred place of our living. As dwellers within the Sacredness of Creation, there is potential to be aware and appreciate the holy within the ordinary. You may remember times when it felt like you were seeing the world through God’s eyes. That’s a good description for what it means to live sacramentally-to sense divine Spirit amid daily activities.” -Jane M. Gardner, “Sacramental Living,” September/October 2019 Herald, p. 5

How are you invited to live sacramentally today?

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 Pilgrim Heart
Janne Grover, Council of Twelve Apostles

“There is a road that runs straight through your heart. Walk on it” (Macrina Wiederkehr, “Tourist or Pilgrim?”, Seasons on the Heart: Prayers and Reflections, 1991, pp. 184-185).

We gathered from Spain, Germany, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Tahiti-via-Belgium, and the United States to Rome, the Eternal City-a place of pilgrimage for spiritual travelers over thousands of years. The vision for this experience was inspired by our pilgrimage journey to World Conference 2019 and the 25th anniversary celebration of the dedication of the Temple in Independence, Missouri, USA.

Over the course of a year, Katie Harmon-McLaughlin and I wrote a series of articles exploring pilgrimage as a journey of becoming in preparation for World Conference 2019 and our theme of Discover. Our pilgrimage experience in Rome explored our personal and community pilgrimage set within the broader Christian tradition of pilgrims seeking meaning and clarity as they lived their sacred “yes” to Christ’s call to “follow me.”

I found it both overwhelming and enlivening to set foot on soil so rich in spiritual heritage. Overwhelmed by what it means to bear apostolic witness in a world filled with hatred, violence, and persecution. Enlivened by this centuries-old journey with spiritual companions dedicated to bearing the light and hope of Christ’s peace in a world longing to be made whole.

Journeying as individuals and community, we shared our stories of seeking and belonging; nurtured our souls through laughter and table fellowship; and worshipped through spiritual practice, song, spoken words, and sacrament. We lived a deeper awareness of the words to our theme song…We are pilgrims on a journey, here together on the road; we are here to help each other walk the mile and bear the load. Together, we provided safe space for each one to claim their unique and sacred place among those who follow Christ.

Over the years I have thought a lot about pilgrimage, but this experience helped me embrace and love the pilgrim heart that keeps me seeking, exploring, journeying, discovering, and becoming. The blessing is not in the destination, but in the intentional, Spirit-led journey.

There is a road that leads straight through your heart. Walk on it…open yourself to holy curiosity…risk something new…find blessing in unsettled, holy adventure…become a blessing to the whole creation…and find life-giving joy in this sacred journey!

Prayer Phrase

My ordinary life is a sacred place.

Spiritual Practice

Sacramental Living

“…our everyday ordinary lives are also sacred places, or put another way, the sacred place of our living. As dwellers within the Sacredness of Creation, there is potential to be aware and appreciate the holy within the ordinary. You may remember times when it felt like you were seeing the world through God’s eyes. That’s a good description for what it means to live sacramentally-to sense divine Spirit amid daily activities.” -Jane M. Gardner, “Sacramental Living,” September/October 2019 Herald, p. 5

How are you invited to live sacramentally today?

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.