Each week we hear a Peace Moment in addition to the prayer for peace. Hopefully all will be blessed with these devotional thoughts. This week’s Peace Moment is by Steve Bolie.
PEACE MOMENT
Today’s scripture from John is about the ways God loves the world. We have good reasons to bring that love close to home. With the weather warming, the days getting longer and the grass growing we can expect to be outside more and have more contact with our neighbors. Here is an idea for expressing our good will toward our neighbors: pray for one household each day. By neighbor I mean looking out the doors and windows and pray for those who live in the homes you see. If you don’t know particular neighbors this is a good opportunity to meet them. Take some goodies and introduce yourself. If you need something to talk about, tell them you have been praying for them. You may gain a friend and even an opportunity to witness.
We have eight neighbor households on our cul-de-sac and three more near our backyard. We think we know the neighbors on the cul-de-sac pretty well but we were surprised last summer to learn that the next door neighbor’s baby that we didn’t know about was already six months old. On the other hand, other neighbors were a big help when health conditions didn’t allow lawn mowing and flower watering and they took care of it. And another time when we left our garage open when we went for reunion neighbors secured the house and closed the garage door. Those years our prayers for our neighbors were prayers of profound gratitude.
Let’s help extend God’s love for the world into our neighborhoods this spring.
Please join me in the prayer for peace.
Loving Parent,
As we continue our Lenten journey, we thank you for Jesus who came among us. He provides for us a light, guide and example of how we should strive to live our lives.
Just as he shone light on injustice and oppression, help us do the same. When we become scared, help us to see the truth in the situation so that we may continue your work. Help us be your light for others in the darkness.
Amen.