This second Sunday in Advent, the lesson is called “Path of Peace.” Inner peace allows us to receive our good, but inner conflict or turmoil causes us to close the door to our good. And there are many people, situations, and experiences that can cause inner conflict. It may be stirred up by something going on in our family, or something we see or hear in the news about the world in which we live. Or we may “lose” our peace unexpectedly.
A while ago, I went to an office supply store. The young woman behind the counter responded to my question, “Hello, how are you?” with, “Oh, I’m ok,” and a sigh that meant she was the exact opposite. With her honest response, I asked if she was under the weather, and she said, “No, my grandpa died on Sunday. He was 91.” I expressed my condolences, and as I returned to my car, I felt like crying. My compassion was activated, and I was moved by a young granddaughter grieving for her grandpa. I wondered if my grandchildren might feel the same about me someday. I would not want them to feel sorrow, but on the other hand, it would be nice to invoke that kind of response in those we love and who also represent the future. It is natural to want to plant seeds of love and peace in those who will carry on after us.
I thought about how this young woman who lost her grandpa was suffering from a loss of peace. We may still maintain some peace while in grief if we know there is a greater Divine Order. Nevertheless, our suffering may cause us to close the door to our good, at least for a time. And it is a necessary process.
We may “lose” our peace when someone cuts in line in front of us at the store, when someone honks at us on the freeway, when someone refuses to take back some merchandise we try to return; or perhaps that door to our good is slammed shut by someone raging at us or when we witness an injustice.
Inner conflict creates stress and tension in mind and body. It is difficult to move through a day without experiencing it in some form. So, how do we find a path to peace? Jesus found his inner peace to the point that nothing anyone did to him could ever take it from him. He found the Kingdom of God within himself. We think we live in a difficult time, but Jesus also lived in a very troubled time. Author Jack Addington said, “The pressure of living under Roman domination is something most of us have not had to experience. There were few rights and little civil liberty for the Jews of his time. But he had found ‘the peace that passes all understanding.’”
This holiday season, pause and find your inner peace by taking time for prayer and meditation, changing the negative to positive, focusing on what is right rather than what is wrong, emphasizing blessings rather than complaints, centering on the breath, speaking an affirmation, or listening to some beautiful music. And most of all, by knowing there is a great Divine Order at work in the universe. May peace be with you!