Monday, August 4

By Barbara Kernohan of Richmond, Ontario, Canada

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.

—Doctrine and Covenants 157:11

A woman contacted me who was having a hard time forgiving someone who hurt her family. Repeatedly, she relived the nightmare, unable to find relief. She could not get a good night’s sleep. She had trouble eating properly. She was a mess, and it was destroying her life, a life once filled with great compassion and joy.

The bounce in her step was gone, and she held her head low. She was not the person she used to be. Like a boat stranded on the water, her sail held no wind. And, because of her inability to forgive, her sail remained empty. She prayed, yet no relief came into the dark night of her soul.

She contacted me for the sacrament of laying on of hands for the sick, for she did feel she was sick. Another elder and I met her at the church. As we walked into the chapel, words came strongly to my mind, “Today you will see my power released.”

At that moment, I felt God releasing the power of the Holy Spirit, not because of what we as elders did or said, but because of God’s compassion. This person, free of burden and pain, was whole again.

God wants all of us to be free of the burden of an unforgiving heart. This freedom is the heart of Christ.

Prayer for Peace Forgiving God, we feel your grace and forgiveness. By the example of your son, teach us to forgive, also. Help us also follow Christ’s example of peace by sharing.

Spiritual Practice: Shaping into Wholeness Hold (or imagine holding) a glass cup, bowl, or vase. Explore its shape, texture, and color. Let the container symbolize your life as it is forming. Write on strips of paper (or in your journal) the observations of what is not yet just and whole in your life. Place the strips in the glass container and hold it in your hands. Pray a prayer of confession and petition, asking God to continue to breathe in and on you, shaping you into a just and compassionate person.

Peace Covenant Today, God, I will let go of a hurt and be whole.