By Phyllis Gregg, office director for the Presiding Bishopric

They rise in the darkness as a light for the upright; they are gracious, merciful, and righteous. It is well with those who deal generously and lend, who conduct their affairs with justice.

At a recent family gathering, I was interacting with my two-year-old grandson. At one point, he grabbed my hand and started pulling. He wanted me to go with him. I didn’t know exactly where he wanted to go, and I’m not sure he did either; but since he invited me, I decided to go along. As I suspected, he didn’t necessarily have a destination, but as we started walking, he would stop along the way and point at things. At each stop, I would try to describe what we were looking at, and occasionally he would try to say some of the words I used. But often he would just look up and smile and take my hand again, and we would move on. We looked out the window at cars. We stopped at a vase of flowers. We even took in a lamp that had crystals hanging from it. They were all things I had seen before, but I discovered them again through the eyes of a two-year-old. It was fun, interesting, and unexpected.

At one point in our journey my older grandson came running up and said, “What are you doing, Grandma?” I told him we were exploring to which he replied, “That sounds fun! Can I join you?” I, of course, invited him along, and we all discovered and talked about so many wonderful things…things I honestly had not paid that much attention to for a very long time.

This is the invitation for the Generosity Cycle. You are invited to start a new journey. It’s a journey without a destination, only an opportunity to discover anew God’s many blessings in your life. The Generosity Cycle begins tomorrow, Sunday, October 13. For the next six weeks through Daily Bread stories, worship helps at https://www.heraldhouse.org/collections/church-life-worship-resources, and resources available at https://cofchrist.org/generosity-cycle/, we will journey together through a season of generosity. My prayer is that you will see with new eyes discovering a deeper joy in things that perhaps you have come to take for granted. Most importantly I hope you will become aware of others you can invite to join you, and together you will be amazed and excited by the many things you find.

Prayer Phrase

“You will be enriched in every way for your great generosity” (2 Corinthians 9:11).

Spiritual Practice

Overflowing Generosity

Spend five minutes thinking deeply about how God has shared abundantly with you in very specific ways. Where do you see God’s abundant generosity in your life? Say a prayer of thanksgiving for these blessings. Now, reminded of these blessings, think about how you can bless others. In what ways can God’s abundant generosity overflow from you to others? What specific blessing will you share with another this day?

Today’s Prayer for Peace

Engage in a daily practice of praying for peace in our world. Click here to read today’s prayer and be part of this practice of peace.