I asked someone recently if they want more peace in their life. They replied, "Well, who doesn't?"
I agree that it is a need that is about as widely known as any other in this world. Cries for peace can be found in hollow headlines, graffiti-littered ghetto's, and the private pages of jumbled journals.
When you think of the word "peace", what comes to mind?
Many images take the stage of my mind. I see a 1970's Volkswagen micro bus with a long-haired, free-spirited hippie behind the wheel. I see two fingers extended from a hand held in the air forming the classic "peace" sign. I see the cliché answer to an onstage question in a hundred different "Miss" anything pageants. I see the tears of a soldier who is fighting against people he doesn't know, in a war he didn't start, for a cause he doesn't fully understand. Many things come to our minds.
(I wonder what comes to God's mind when he considers the word "peace"...)
We hear frequently, "the pursuit of happiness". It seems more of "the pursuit of peace." I don't think that one can truly have peace without being happy. I think that happiness is one of the many treasures to be found under the umbrella of peace. Therefore when we have peace, we, by its nature, have happiness.
It is important to note that I am not talking about temporary, fleeting peace. I am not talking about a moment of peace. I have seen those who smoke marijuana–who, after smoking, seem quite at peace. However, this is a temporary, fake, and counterfeit peace. This is the world's specialty. In its countless forms, the world attempts, convincingly, to give what only God can give. No. That won't do. The peace that I am talking about is far more fundamental–far more permanent.
I learned as a student, both in high school and in college, a sure route to the opposite of peace. In a word? Procrastination. Being keenly aware of the approaching due date for an English paper, a math test, or even finals I, more often that not, would spend those days which were given me to prepare and study and work, to do other things. The due date marched ever closer and I would continue to spend my time with what I considered as "worthy endeavors", but nonetheless were not what I should have been doing. Almost any given night before a big paper was due, I could be found sweating over a half-finished rough draft, or pacing the floor until I had a well worn path, or squinting through bloodshot eyes to see the blurry characters of a textbook (comment if you know exactly what i'm talking about). I don't think that I could describe exactly what I was feeling, but it was definitely not peace.
Webster's Dictionary tells us that peace is "freedom from disturbance; quiet and tranquility."
So what is the opposite of peace? War? Trouble? Fear? Noise? Disturbances? Whatever it is, we, as a society, seem to have a lot of it! So, if peace is so valuable, and something that seems to be more elusive with the passage of time, then how can we obtain it?
I am reminded of a phrase that says, "anything worth having is worth working for."
The pursuit of peace is lead by preparation and is defeated by procrastination. It is founded in the security of sacrifice and crumbles in the sands of selfishness. It finds its bedrock foundation in virtue and principal. Peace is one of the fruits of righteousness. Peace is the result of having done all you could with what you had, and having the confidence in God that He will take care of the rest.
Think of a child. Someone under the age of 5. At that age, it is difficult to be tainted by the corruption of a fallen world. Imagine him or her for a moment. Picture them in your mind dancing from room to room–playing, learning, imagining, feeling, loving, drawing, falling over, and giggling for no reason. Picture them discovering, for the first time, the beauty of a rainbow or the sensation of a summer rainstorm. Picture the light and purity in their clear eyes. These little messy miracles–these tiny tornadoes that we call kids–are incapable of sinning, so they bask in the peace that will always be out of the world's grasp. They are in a perfect standing before God. They are made whole in Christ. I find it ironic that we are to spend our entire adult lives trying to become what we once were. Our biggest examples are our tiniest friends.
The answer to the question, "what is the price for peace?" is as simple as it is uncomfortable.
Work. Preparation. Self-denial. Sacrifice. Charity. Diligence. Patience.
The price of peace is righteousness. The action is obedience. The motivation is love.
Those who truly love God are those who truly have peace.
"Peace isn't the absence of adversity, it is the presence of Christ."
Thank you for your thoughts and for working for peace Elder Curtis!
ReplyDeleteI too have often contemplated the happiness, purity, and innocence of children. Those who truly are happy - and at peace. While serving as a missionary, I began to look up to those we look down on. There is so much to learn from them. I love seeing and watching them because they are so full of the light of Christ. Children aren't stressed about anything and seem totally oblivious to the problems of the world. Their emotions and reactions to drama are so pure. Some may argue that they aren't capable of understanding those problems, but I feel they are at peace for another reason. Because of the peace that comes with purity, they can have a perfect hope that all will be ok. They have full confidence in him who sent them that he will take care of them and their every need. They feel God's love strongly because they are alive in Christ.
"28 And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:
29 And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
30 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?
31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?
32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.
33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.(Matthew 6:28-34)."
"Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven."(Matthew 18:4). Is not childlike humility and this peace the kingdom of heaven?
I know that as we face the difficulties of life with childlike faith and purity, that God will be by our side bearing us up. He loves us more than we can contemplate and wants us to have peace. Habits may creep in from time to time and threaten to steal our peace entirely, but let us strive daily to become closer to God! I love the Gospel of Jesus Christ because it is the only thing that brings me lasting peace and happiness.
Love this, and very well written! Thank you for sharing!!
ReplyDelete