Saturday, October 25

By Dustin Davis of Los Angeles, California, USA

…so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another. We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us: prophecy, in proportion to faith…

—Romans12:5–6 NRSV

I like to go to theme parks to escape the mundane world. It’s not unusual to strike up a conversation with people around you in the long lines.

One morning while waiting, my friend, Carla, and I met Jessica and her younger sister, Lindsay, who had come from another city. They shared in our excitement, and, later we were happy to share our place in line for one of the new rides. Afterward, we said good-bye and hoped to see them again.

Not long after that, we met a young man named Jason, with whom we instantly clicked. Before we knew it, we were wandering around the park together, sharing our stories. We continued to meet him throughout the day, and we saved a spot for him at an evening show.

We also made friends with two new high school graduates, Rebecca and another Jason, while waiting in line. They were hungry, so we promised to save their spot in line so they could go eat. Delighted to not lose their spot, they came back with ice cream to share. We spent the rest of the time in line laughing and getting to know each other. When we got to the front of the line, we all rode together.

Sometimes I was in the most unlikely places and with unlikely strangers that we found community. We met such friendly people at every turn. Instead of simply experiencing our excitement and enthusiasm with each other, we shared it with others, multiplying it.

We long for deep and real connections, hard to come by in our fast-paced and social-media-driven society. Be ready to share the peace of Christ wherever you may find yourself—at work, school, the gym, your home, or even standing in a long line. For a few joy-filled hours that day, we experienced one of the Blessings of Community.

Prayer for Peace God of the universal community, help us always be aware of opportunities to connect with people and to share moments of blessing.

Spiritual Practice: Offering Blessings of Community Receive and share Blessings of Community. Begin with a prayer of gratitude for the relationships in your life. See and feel connections with family members, spiritual friends, people in your congregation and community, and people and creatures in God’s sacred web of life. What blessings flow to you from these circles? How have you felt the love of the community?

Reflect, pray, or write in your journal about the call to be “Community of Christ.” Go deeper each day as you discern what act of blessing God invites you to complete.

Peace Covenant Today, God, I will not waste my time while in line…I will use it to share peace.