Real Peace

To live a peaceful life in this world of turmoil and strife, we need to understand that our enemy is not any one person. The enemy is within our own soul, and at times the Principality of evil will use people to drive a wedge of discontent amongst Gods beloved children. This is why it is essential to keep a strong prayer life and to make use of the Sacraments of the Church as often as possible.

A person that is centred on Christ is not easily moved by the emotionalism of others or by those who prefer to embrace hate rather than love. As that great Doctor of the Church, St. Francis de Sales said, "Do not lose your inward peace for anything whatsoever, even if your whole world seems upset." This is a learning process in that we at times all lose our temper and can become agitated over the actions of others, but this is not an excuse to remain in that condition.

In order to keep our peace we need to recognise that this peace is from Christ and cannot be found anywhere else. It is Gods Gift to those who have put aside their 'old selves' and embraced the 'new self' as they walk with Christ in the Light of His Word and the Teachings of His Church.

Our obligation as God fearing Christians is to speak God's Truth with gentleness and then to stand firm if any find this Truth to be loathsome. It is not up to us to engage in bickering but instead to speak it and then to quietly pray for those who find this Teaching too hard to accept.

To remain quiet in the midst of sin as if it were not happening is not 'peace', that is false peace which leads to false charity when we condone evil as a right. It is never right to do wrong, as if the end justifies the means, we must at all times speak The Truth even to our own peril as Winston Churchill once said, "Truth is incontrovertible, malice may attack it and ignorance may deride it, but, in the end, there it is."

When a persons trust has been destroyed by another it takes time for the Divine Physician to heal a soul wound. Real peace lay not in the power of humans but is in the Hands of the Divine from whom we seek our own inner healing from wounds inflicted upon us.

Real peace does not mean an absence of anger, true and sincere peace of heart is maintaining a quiet peaceful heart amidst the raging turmoil of anger, hate and strife. It is the ability not to be swayed this way or that way or allowing others to provoke us or to allow others to manipulate us. This does not mean we must sit quietly and watch wrongs being said or done against another, but it is to speak the truth gently and firmly as it is and to then move on irrespective of how others accept the truth spoken.

We must at all times remember that we are in the company of our Lord and what cannot be spoken in His Presense should not be whispered in dark corners, as St. Teresa of Avila said, "however quietly we speak, God is so near he will hear us."

Written by Marie