Peace

The world around you is only beautiful when you are at peace with the world within you. -author unknown

Do you find it challenging to maintain a sense of peace, especially during the hustle and bustle of the current year-end holidays?

The Christian advent themes of December invite us to embrace hope, peace, joy, and love. But doesn’t the theme of peace contradict the reality of this busy holiday season? The hustle and bustle of shopping, entertaining, cooking, and celebrating, combined with the everyday demands of work and family, can make this time of year very chaotic.

One of the biblical Jesus birth stories instructs us that the annual Christmas celebration is supposed to be a time of good tidings and great joy, and we shouldn’t fear. But life challenges us. We have busy, demanding lives with children, dysfunctional relationships, and unhealthy loved ones. Financial problems may also heighten as we attempt to purchase all the toys Santa doesn’t make at his workshop. Add to that how the local and world news seeps into our psyche, bringing bad tidings of great angst daily, and peace can be elusive.

The Hebrew interpretation of ‘peace’ is Shalom, which means completeness or well-being. What would completeness look like in our lives?

A Perfect Life?

Is there such a thing? After all, we are human. Life presents us with challenges and choices. We sometimes make monumental mistakes that disrupt our paths. And if we are lucky, wise choice-makers, we may experience bountiful blessings. No doubt, our personal external experiences affect us, and our emotions are also influenced by the chaotic circumstances in the world. For most of us, much of what we strive for in our life’s journey is superficial, like stability, success, self-satisfaction, safety, and the all-important skinny. All these things are external. To solve our problems, and achieve our wants and needs, Christians are taught to pray to God as though that entity is external, somewhere in the celestial beyond and we wait for the prayed-for-fix. Often, the fix doesn’t happen.

Does that mean peace is a pipe dream?

As the author of the opening quote suggests, could it be that peace is not something we can have until we internalize it? Perhaps we need to tap into that inner peace and realize, as the Good Witch advised Dorothy when she wanted to return home, ‘You had the power all along.’

No, we do not have red sparkly shoes to tap. Well maybe you do, but those don’t have the Oz magic. However, we have something that is powerful if we believe we are spiritual beings having a human experience. Look inward to the spiritual core self. Unseal what we’ve been taught to tuck away behind our human facade. And find the higher power that awaits within.

I recently finished decorating our Christmas tree in the living room, and I often stop what I am doing and stare at it. Its white lights and the decorations, many gifted by friends, bring me solace. I gaze at the tree while Neil Diamond sings “O Holy Night” from our CD player (yes, we still have one of those). I am aware of my personal peace disruptions holding onto my spirit, creating a sense of melancholy. I have several disruptions: my dysfunctional relationship with siblings; the absence of my parents, who passed in 2020; the worries about my adult daughter finding a job she is happy with; concerns as the United States prepares for a president taking over in January who I believe to be bad for our nation; and sadness about people who lost everything two months ago in my home-town of Asheville, North Carolina due to hurricane Helene. But, as I stare at the tree, I consciously attempt to focus on what is in front of me and the ambiance of the decorated tree and room with the turned-on gas fireplace, adding an extra layer of warmth. I turn inward to my core self, allowing Neil Diamond’s beautiful voice to flow over me and observe the tree’s beauty. I will the peace disruptions to leave. “Go,” I tell them, “Sit somewhere else for a while.” And I feel their weight lessen. I take in a cleansing breath of relief, close my eyes, look inwards towards my spirit, and allow myself to experience a sense of—

–well, peace.

Is this what is meant by, Let go and let God?

Is the lack of peace a need for control? Can I loosen my grip and just be; let Neil Diamond’s voice flow over me and let this moment, brief though it is, be an internal holy?

My attempt to turn inward towards the core of my spirit seems to make all the difference as I take a deep breath, absorb the season’s spirit, and thank the tree, my spirit within, and Neil for helping me enjoy peace, if only for a brief moment. Turning inward connects us with our internal higher power, whom I call God. This is where the peace resides—within us. We have had that spiritual being and power within us all along, no sparkly red shoes required.

I inhale a deep breath of understanding, tap my heels together, and to the tree, Neil, and my internal spirit, I utter a simple breath prayer of –

Shalom.