Last week I found myself sitting on a fairly comfortable stone as I listened and looked at two rivers merging and becoming one thriving waterway. The woodlands on the riverbanks were sporting their lush springtime green and in the distance children at play were laughing and calling to one another. I looked up at the clear blue sky and felt the greatest peace, the kind I wish to bottle up and take home with me.
Life, of course, does not bow to our desires and during the following week there were enough ups and downs to cause me to lose that peace. But even though I couldn’t bottle up the deep calm I felt by the rivers, I could retrieve some of it by returning in memory. I could access and allow peace to strengthen my resolve to live as a woman of harmony.
As you and I are well aware, a huge amount of conflict and travail exists around the globe, much of it is the kind that neither you nor I can eliminate. A quote from Encountering Henri (Nouwen) by his archivist, Gabrielle Earnshaw, has brought hope and reminded me of how inner peace can endure in even the most difficult of situations. She wrote this after her only son Heiko died, diagnosed with myeloid leukemia at age 4 ½: “Suffering is not a sign of God’s absence, but in fact, the exact locus of God’s love. … suffering is not a punishment from God, but in fact, a meeting place.” Earnshaw then gives examples of this meeting place: “caring nurses, the compassionate doctors, the dropped-off meals, visits, gifts, financial resources from friends—all of these became the signs of God-with-us.”
Inner peace does not instantly resolve conflicts. It prepares the heart to lean more fully toward compassion when these struggles arrive. Inner peace strengthens our resolve to be a positive influence by bringing the best of who we are into each day. Inner peace encourages us to move toward open dialogue in an effort to change the course of events regarding conflicts in personal relationships, and in the political sphere by our courageous presence and our voice for justice.
Henri Nouwen asks a big question in The Genesee Diary: “Is there a still point where my life is anchored and from which I can reach out?” I felt that still point while sitting by the confluence of the two rivers. I didn’t think “God” at that time because I knew intuitively that I was united and at home in the heart of a Sacred Still Point where inner peace resides.
For those who’ve been reading my newsletter for a while, you might recall how in the past I referred to the UK’s “Prayer for Peace” written in August, 1981. People around the world were asked to pray this at midday, every day. Eight years later on Nov. 9, 1989 the unthinkable happened: the Berlin Wall came down. An enormous movement toward peace evolved. Here is the prayer if you choose to join with others who are currently using it.
Lead me from death to life, from falsehood to truth.Lea
d me from despair to hope, from fear to trust.
Lead me from hate to love, from war to peace.
Let peace fill our heart, our world, our universe.
Abundant peace (yes, abundant),
Joyce Rupp
