{daily devotional}

We've been attending a new church about a half hour from our house lately. It's a UCC church like our church in Salt Lake & are considering making it our "home" church. It's been a tough decision for us since we're very entwined in the church where Cassidy goes to preschool as well. That church, which is United Methodist, is wonderful but we are feeling a little more aligned with this other right now. We'll see. Anyhow, this past Sunday the girls went to Sunday School for the first time. Apparently they used the Sunday School reflections for one of the daily devotional emails this week. Here's what I got via email. See if you can pick out the sentence in the prayer at the end that our children must have contributed.

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Luke 24:36b

While they were talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, 'Peace be with you.'

Reflection by the Pilgrimage Sunday School Children

Hi; Nice to see you; How are you?

These are the things we would say if we hadn't seen someone in a while. But Jesus said "Peace be with you." So, we talked about what the word peace means and when we hear the word and why Jesus might have said it.

·   It means quiet.

·   In the Joy song we sang with Pastor Kim, one verse was "I've got the peace that passeth understanding".

·   Pastor Kim says "Peace be with you".

·   You would say it to help someone be calm.

We said the word Jesus used was actually shalom, and that shalom means slightly more than peace. We talked about wholeness and wanting people to feel that everything in the world was good and right.  What would it look like if all was "shalom" in the world?

·   No one would be hungry or thirsty.

·   No one would be poor.

·   No one would cut down trees (and we would find another way to make paper).

·   Everything would be free so people would have everything they need.

·   People would not be mean to each other.

During our closing prayer, the children each prayed for something they felt would make the world better. While some of the younger children's wishes were personal, it was inspiring to hear most of the group think beyond themselves and out into the world. 

Prayer:

Dear God, we pray that poor people would have enough money so that no one would be poor. We wish things would be free so everyone who needed something could have it. We wish Tinkerbell would come. I wish my tree house would be finished. We pray there would be enough water for the trees and everyone. We ask that you help us make your light shine in each of us so that these wishes come true. Amen.

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Did you pick the sentence about Tinkerbell? Yep. That one. By these girls. You know, the ones in the Tinkerbell & (insert some other fairy name - who knows!) costumes! Love her, love them. But, it looks like we've got a ways to go learning about "shalom".