Check Your Settings
Larry McGuire, president of seventy
“With what shall I come before the LORD, and bow myself before God on high?
Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old?
Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil?
Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”
He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? -Micah 6:6-8
We recently switched cell phone providers and upgraded phones. I made sure all our devices were “backed up” to the cloud so that when we connected, our apps and settings would come right down from the “cloud” and our new phones would work. That was the theory!
After two days of downloading, I still had problems with texting and music. Some of my email messages were being sent or received. Some applications would not function because I couldn’t get the password to work. The most vexing problem: visual voicemail. I reset settings, I googled for solutions, but nothing worked. I had to actually listen to voicemails!
After several failed attempts with providers, I was connected with Don at Verizon. After a quick greeting, he asked me to update him on my situation. We went through all the same steps I had done previously-still no success.
He then said, “Visual voicemail works from Siri so make sure Siri is enabled.” It was. And then it hit me: Siri! I said, “Don, I lived in the U.K. for a couple years and enjoy having Siri speak ‘proper’ English.” He said, “That’s it! Visual voicemail with Siri only works with U.S. and Canadian English.” Ding, Ding, Ding!! Decision time: either switch Siri to U.S. English to have visual voicemail or keep her set on U.K. English.
As I thought about this innocent adjustment I had made, I wondered about our faith movement. We have people around the globe using one setting for understanding their faith and Community of Christ while others have other settings, and they don’t always talk to one another. It happens in congregations, in families, between friends. We believe we are using words or practices that have universal meaning when, in fact, we must constantly check our settings and take time to understand how one adjustment that seems innocent can cause confusion in another setting.
It’s not that we shouldn’t make adjustments, but we need to take time to listen to what is being said by others. Take time to check the settings. We don’t have to be on the same setting, but we must take time to listen to others’ insights. Listen, pay attention, check your settings.
Prayer Phrase
“Awake, my soul!” (Psalm 57:8)
Spiritual Practice
The Prayer of the Heart
Early Christian disciples desired to take seriously the scripture mandate to pray “without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17). The prayer of the heart invites us to pray “continuously” by repeating and returning to a prayer phrase planted for intentional reflection and deepening. Choose a word or phrase (from scripture, hymnody, or personal reflection) that has meaning for you. The Jesus Prayer is one form of the prayer of the heart: “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me” (Luke 18:35-43). Invite this simple phrase to repeat in your heart throughout the day, awakening your soul to God’s presence.
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.
