One of my favorite songs is "Let There Be Peace On Earth". If you're not familiar with the words It begins with the line, Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me. In my opinion, no truer words could be sung, especially in times of unrest.
The unrest I mentioned doesn't necessarily have to be the kind we've been seeing on the news; civil disobedience, genocide, war. Unrest can also describe how one is personally doing; not getting enough sleep, stresses of meeting deadlines, unhappy with the life choices made so far. Either way, unrest is exactly what it sounds like: not at rest.
Another way to say that one is not at rest is to say they're not at peace, either with themselves, people around them, or God. Peace is a funny thing. When asked how people define peace, the most common answer by far is "not at war." For some reason we've come to associate peace and war as two words dependent on each other. If we're at war we have no peace, if we have peace we're not at war.
However, peace is so much more than lack of battles with missiles and guns. Peace is that place where all things are in sync with one another, that place where one does not feel unsettled, rushed, out of place, emotionally or spiritually uncomfortable, or for any other reason out of place.
Peace is not an easy thing to achieve. It takes a consciousness, or active participation, as to what is going on around us and how our words and actions affect those things. If we're having a bad morning and treat others as though they're the reason it's bad, how do you think they're going to react? But, if we're having a bad morning and treat others with kindness, my guess is that you'll be calmer a lot sooner.
How we treat others and ourselves is in direct correlation to our
physical peacefulness. By the same token, how we treat God directly affects our spirit. Today, if at all possible, take a look at how much peace you have in your life, then take notice at how your own words and actions are directly responsible for that peace, or lack thereof.
Remember, in order to have peace in this world it has to begin with you.
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