By Leandro Palacios of Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you.

I was ten years old, sitting on a rock atop a hill with my Catholic school classmates. They told us to “listen to the silence.” I felt something greater than myself that changed me. I wanted to know what it was I had felt, but I thought I could never find it within Christianity.

That search led me, eleven years later, to a Buddhist sangha, where I learned about the concept of the bodhisattva—someone who achieves enlightenment through selflessly helping others achieve the same goal. But everything I did felt self-serving: how could I be a true bodhisattva if my main motivation for helping others was becoming enlightened myself?

Nine years later I moved to Toronto, Canada, and a friend invited me to attend the local Community of Christ congregation. I knew very little about this church but agreed to visit one Sunday. The service did not impress me, but everyone was genuinely welcoming. When I said I was a singer, they invited me to sing anytime. So I did, every now and then.

One day I learned the congregation had sold their building but had permission to use the facility until construction began. One cold winter, the boiler broke and they decided it was not worth fixing. I felt called to help them find a solution and found a nearby library branch with a room for rent by the hour. That’s when I started attending regularly, each Sunday helping convert a messy children’s department into a place of worship.

One of those Sundays, as I found myself struggling to drag a suitcase loaded with hymnals through the snow, I realized I was not doing it for myself. I was doing it for them. It was the first time I felt like a true bodhisattva.

That experience allowed me to connect that moment when I first sensed something greater than myself in the silence with the idea that enlightenment comes by selflessly helping others, and with a community where everyone was there to help each other connect with that something greater I had been looking for since I was a child.

Prayer Phrase

“Let us work for the good of all” (Galatians 6:10).

Spiritual Hunger

Jesus discerned hungers of body and spirit, and he fed them through a physical, verbal, spiritual ministry of presence. In a time of listening prayer, ask God to help you discern physical or spiritual hungers of people in your congregation, community, and global family. Invite the Spirit to move you to one hospitable act that “feeds” someone’s hunger today.

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.