God's Love is Steadfast
O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!—Psalm 118:1 NRSV
I remembered Carol when I woke in the night, my heart pounding, my anxiety level high, my mind worrying. I hadn’t slept well for months. Like other World Church leaders I had been struggling with continuous bad news about the impact of the global economic crisis on World Ministries Mission Tithes and income from investments and endowments.
Faced with the downsizing of ministers in the Southern USA Mission Field and throughout the church, I was heartsick for those who had served God and God’s people.
So I awoke in a panic and remembered Carol, who I briefly had encountered five years before. Carol was standing in a parking lot in Cape Town, South Africa. She offered to watch our car to keep it safe.
"Go, go," she said. "I will care for you." We were in a hurry to meet an official in the South African government, so we didn’t think much about her offer. When we returned several hours later, Carol met us with a smile and a joyful testimony of abundance.
She and her five children had moved to Cape Town, leaving a village that suffered from drought, death, and despair. Her family lived in the slums outside Cape Town, with no water, electricity, or employment. So each morning she walked several miles to stand in this parking lot with the hope that others would value her service and give her a small reward.
She received her reward; we received ours. Carol joyfully shared her testimony of God’s steadfast love. "I don’t know where the food will come from to feed my children," she said. "But I know that God will provide this day."
My memory of Carol and her faithful words stilled my mind as I realized that God’s steadfast love endures and would bless those ministers who would be downsized and the church’s mission to go and make disciples. Peace came, and I slept, because I knew God would provide.
By Linda L. Booth
Council of Twelve Apostles
Prayer for Peace:
Creator God, at this time of revitalization, reenthuse our efforts to share peace; make, build, reveal peace; honor, follow, strengthen peace; learn and teach peace; live and embody peace, and to be a sanctuary of Christ’s peace.
Spiritual Practice: Sabbath Keeping (Holy Attention)
Honoring and keeping the Sabbath is a spiritual discipline that nourishes persons, families, and congregations. Spend several minutes meditating on your plans for the day. Discern ways you can give intentional attention to God, the sacredness of life, and creation. Slow your pace, breathe deeper, see more clearly and compassionately, create spaces of quiet and solitude. Spend time in nature. Be alert for signs of beauty and divine presence. Cook and eat your food with keen awareness of color, taste, texture, fragrance. Listen to music, look closely at the face of a loved one, laugh and talk together. Pray over these Sabbath possibilities and enter the day with reverence
.
Peace Covenant
We have been called by the Spirit of God. Let us go to be makers of peace.
Archived Newsletters -
Jackson, MS Community of Christ
