By Katherine Stanford of Kirtland, New Mexico USA

the Lord make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace.

For many years, I taught on the Navajo reservation in northeastern Arizona. I learned a lot about their customs and traditions during that time, but the most important thing I took away with me was a saying that they share with all: “Walk in beauty.”

It’s sometimes a greeting, sometimes a farewell, and often a reminder of how you should act. This means to take beauty with you wherever you go, to spread beauty wherever you are, to find beauty in all things, and to be beauty to all you meet. Beauty comes from within; it is not something that just happens.

Everything God created has beauty, you just have to open your eyes to see it. Even the ugliest bug can have an iridescence that shines forth its inner beauty. When you choose to walk in beauty, you make a choice to find God’s beauty in everything you see and everyone you meet.

It’s not easy, but think of the beauty we can see if we just open our eyes and choose to see it.

Prayer Phrase

“See, I am making all things new” (Revelation 21:5).

Weaving a Life

Hold, or imagine yourself holding, a piece of patterned cloth. Examine it carefully. Notice overlapping threads, mingling colors that form the design. Write a journal entry or meditate about the threads and patterns of your life. What design do you see? How does the life pattern you are weaving create justice and wholeness in God’s world? What new pattern is God calling you to weave?

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.