Let the carnival go on!

Stephanie deValpine

Some years ago when I was living with my family in Venezuela, I was in charge of the school carnival. This was put on every year by the Parents’ Association. There were two co-presidents of the Association that year. Some of us thought they were causing a lot of tension and resentment by getting involved in every detail of the carnival, making changes to things already done, requesting new things that there were not the time or resources to implement.

Their actions fell particularly hard on the head of the decorating committee. One morning, this woman called me in tears. She told me that she couldn’t carry out her duties that day because her little two-year-old daughter had a fever. Moreover, she was resigning from her position because she was so distressed by the co-presidents’ constant interference.

This was all very upsetting to me. My heart went out to that young mother and her little daughter. I wanted to help, so I decided to pray. I knew I had to get rid of my resentment of the co-presidents.

Two passages were very helpful to me. The first was from Mary Baker Eddy’s Science and Health: “Consistent prayer is the desire to do right” (p. 9). This passage inspired me to flip this statement around and think: “The desire to do right is prayer.” I knew that the co-presidents wanted to do what was right. And this intention could be seen as “prayer.”

Then the thought came to me that, yes, everyone involved wants to do right, but it looks like our ideas of doing right can come into conflict.

The Bible had an answer for me here, from Ephesians 4: “There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ” (verses 4–7). I understood that there is one God, and we are His activity. And as First Corinthians makes clear, we are all important, like the parts of the body, and all of us, in our different ways, can work harmoniously together (see chapter 12).

As I understood this, my fear, resentment, and turmoil were gone. I was entirely at peace.

About an hour later, the head of the decorating committee called me to say that her daughter no longer had a fever, and she herself felt much better and was willing to continue her work for the carnival. After that, the carnival work proceeded constructively and harmoniously. This has been an enduring lesson to me of the unity and harmony natural to God’s children.

—Stephanie deValpine, Istanbul, Turkey

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