This is a follow up to a recent post on peace. The prior post dealt with the beauty, value, and desirability of peace. So far so good. But, how do you achieve peace? Do you find it? Do you ask for it? Is it a gift? Do you create it?
The answer is yes.
First, let me deal with what doesn’t work. This is a list of things that people do to get ahead, to find satisfaction, to find happiness:
Make a lot of money.
Attain power…….social, commercial, or political.
Become popular, an influencer.
Earn the admiration of their peers.
These things in themselves are not bad. The trouble is that in pursuing them you accumulate problems that you must sort out constantly in order to stay on top
It is not hard to find a celebrity who has achieved some or all of these things and yet is miserable. They often publish books whining to the rest of us about how hard their life is.
It turns out that peace is both easier and harder to attain than these paths that don’t work.
Peace is completely independent of money, power, influence, and prestige. Even more, peace is completely independent of your circumstances. Those are not the places to look for peace.
Peace is a characteristic of the spiritual realm……not the physical realm. To seek peace among the trappings of the physical world is a quest that is doomed to fail. The list of people who have figured this out as they are dieing…..or worse, who never figure it out, is long and storied.
In order to achieve peace……..find peace….receive peace……create peace…….you must get your spiritual house in order.
The first thing that you must do is to resign your position as CEO of the universe. You are not in charge. You are not big enough, powerful enough, smart enough, or capable enough. Neither am I, for what it’s worth. In a word, you and I lack the authority to reign. There are a lot of problems with Islam; but, they got one thing right. The very word Islam translates into “submission”. This is the starting point. This is, without a doubt, the hardest part of the process.
After you cede control of the universe in general…….and control of your life in particular………you need to find out who is actually in charge. There are a lot of candidates. Every few years we hear of a cult led by a guy who has claimed this authority…….they typically end badly. I am a Christian. I believe that the Bible has the answer to this question……and many more. You may reject the Bible…..but, if you do, I have one question, “Have you actually read it?” Because, If you haven’t, you are like my granddaughter. I asked her if she liked to eat charred octopus. She said, “Ewwe no! That’s gross!” She still hasn’t tried it. That leaves more octopus for me. The Bible is a very complicated book. This should not be surprising…..it’s a complicated world. The old testament has a lot of history…….and a lot of rules. But, it has one central theme: The old testament teaches us that God, the Trinity, is in absolute charge. The new testament tells us what he expects us to do. We often don’t agree with God. We sometimes don’t like what he expects of us. My only answer is that God is in charge not me. Deal with it.
Having identified the guy in charge and submitted to his authority, we simply follow his instructions. Sounds tough. Here is the “Cliff Notes” version:
Love God…..love everybody else.
There it is:
Give up control.
Recognize God’s absolute authority.
Obey him…….that is……love him and everybody else.
Do these things and you will achieve, find, and receive peace. Even better, your peace will spread to the people around you. You will create peace.
It turns out that it’s simpler than you thought. But, it’s still not easy. You will fail…..every day……same as me. But, the process will lead you to peace.
the saints are just the sinners
Who fall down and get up
Bob Carlisle