PEACE ( a few thoughts revisited)

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When we think of peace, many things come to mind: Peaceful activities: Strolling in the park, laying back on a favourite chair with a good book, relaxing with a glass of wine (or two) on a Summer evening, day dreaming,
...maybe even sleeping.

Jesus said to his disciples “My peace I leave with you. My peace I give you. A peace which the world cannot give. This is my gift to you. Let not your heart be troubled or afraid."

" A peace which the world cannot give" Is a kind of peace that cannot be sought and found without Jesus.
Often, it seems, the peace of Jesus is found amid the most "un-peaceful" of moments. Like an eye in a storm it is a breath of stillness at the centre of what often seems to be relentless activity. I have often reflected upon this type of peace as a mother of four young children. When a newborns feeding schedule wrenches you from your sleep frequently throughout the night it seems contrary to find peace at such times. But how many mothers recognise the overwhelming peace that swells from within when holding a little one close in the quiet hues of dawning light.

There is the touch of God in the abandonment of one's self to another.

Often the peace that Jesus offers us is hard won. It is not something that can be recieved passively, it has to be received actively. Through giving of ourselves to others. As by giving of ourselves to others we receive grace. By acting in service we receive peace.

The constancy of Jesus peace, navigates the strongest currents. Sets our compass, shepherds our course. A gentle yet strong resonance demarcating the perimeters of the "straight and narrow" path.

Yet peace, I think, has it's prelude in the darkness of faith. It is the birdsong in the first moments of dawn before the sun has yet risen .

Peace leaves everything in HIS hands.

And I am reminded of this,

"And He sat down and began teaching the people from the boat. 4 When He had finished speaking, He said to Simon, “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.” 5 Simon answered and said, “Master, we worked hard all night and caught nothing, but I will do as You say and let down the nets.” 6 When they had done this, they enclosed a great quantity of fish, and their nets began to break; so they signaled to their partners in the other boat for them to come and help them. And they came and filled both of the boats, so that they began to sink "

Nets broken and boats sinking in the deep. Boats and nets, a livelihood. A way of living passed through generations. from father to son. Memories, stories, trade. Everything that could be depended on.

Yet.

"When they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed Him."

An act of faith had caused something to happen that changed Peter, James and John forever. They could never go back.

Peace means a giving up of something. Something that defines. To let God's light to seep through the hard outlines of ourselves. Like ink across an etching.

Psalms 147:14 "He maketh peace in thy borders, and filleth thee with the finest of the wheat."

Before I had children I had more time, more money, more so called freedom, many different choices and a lot less responsibility. Yet there was no peace.

I struggled, I searched I pressed on. I filled my days with things, and questions, and wishing and waiting, and then more things...

Peace. can only be held in an empty cup.

To empty out the baggage of my needs or at least the things I thought I needed. Meant letting go of .... everything.

When I take a few paces back, re track, in search of something of my own to retrieve, like broken debris washed up on the shore. I see, it's only me trying to hold on to the fraying seams of control once more. Peace is a gift. I receive with open hands and open arms. Arms ready to let go of my own understandings and embrace His understanding. Arms ready to give out. Hands, empty of my own need to possess. Cupped and ready to receive the sacrament of His peace.

There are many times when anxiety aches and troubles overwhelm and I can't find peace however hard I search amid the chaos and discord. Yet there is only one way through on the path where I feel my way along, stumbling and straining and reaching out. Faith. Faith in the darkness. Faith that can take over and steer me through the tumult. then My little boat seems to still and the storm around me seems to calm. And once again I am hauled ashore.

"He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still." Psalm 107:29

" And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm."

Peace be with you today.