By Katie Harmon-McLaughlin, Formation Ministries team director and World Church Spiritual Formation team lead

Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act. He will make your vindication shine like the light, and the justice of your cause like the noonday.

Whenever I enter the Auditorium Chamber for the first time in a while, it feels like I am stepping into a “thin space” where past, present, and future mingle together. I sense the expansiveness of God’s presence throughout time and feel connected to a larger community. I have learned important lessons in this sacred space: keeping my heart open to people I disagree with, the gifts of multiple perspectives on challenging issues, the Spirit that still surprises with possibility and hope for the future.

I remember in these experiences that I am part of a spiritual community whose source and life is God. Sometimes I think I already know the answers to the questions or have figured out the latest gimmick that will make the church “successful.” When I enter common sacred space, I am humbled out of these illusions. I feel the presence of my ancestors and sense the weight of my choices on those who will come after I am gone. I remember that it is the Spirit of God that burns like a fire and weaves our story throughout time.

I invite you to enter this “thin space” and to remember again that God is the Source of our life together. May we grow in awareness of the Spirit that is still doing a new thing in and through us for the blessing of the world.

Prayer Phrase

“For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them” (Matthew 18:20).

The International Community

Find (or imagine) a globe or map of the world. Look at all the nations and find a country other than your own. Notice the geographic distance between your homeland and this one. Picture a person living there. Pray for this person. Sense God’s love connecting you just as the oceans connect the continents. Thank God for the spiritual connection you have with all of God’s people around the globe. Ask a blessing on the church as a community sharing Christ’s peace, drawing all into the family of God.

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.