“If peace is God’s gift and has its source in him, where are we to seek it and how can we build it, if not in a deep and intimate relationship with God?”
-Bl. Pope John Paul II-
Address to the representatives of the world religions.
Assisi, Jan 24, 2002
I love calendars, schedules, and planners. One of my favorite calendars is one on my desk. It is filled with quotes from my beloved Bl. John Paul II. From time to time one of the quotes resonates with me so deeply that I have to write a blog post on it.
Peace is a word that I love. My spiritual director begins each of our meetings by greeting me with "Peace," and the very word, spoken aloud, settles my heart and soul. I have a good friend, who through all of the changes of her life, has impressed me with her trust in God's plan and the peace that she posesses. My mother posesses that calm and quiet peace about her as well.
I long for peace in my heart. There is an extreme difference between peace and complacency. At times I am complacent, where I don't care about my troubles. Probably the opposite of peace, and yet deceitful enough to mask itself as peace. For if I don't care about my troubles than they can't distress me. So for a time I am lulled into a sort of counter-productive calm.
Peace is a total and utter trust in God's plan and faith in its fulfilment. So it's not that a person chooses not to care about his troubles, but that his troubles really are weightless. It's the knowledge that even amidst troubles, God's glory shines and finds its fulfillment.
“If peace is God’s gift and has its source in him, where are we to seek it and how can we build it, if not in a deep and intimate relationship with God?”
