The Peace We Carry Into the World

 

Peace does not begin when the world changes. It begins when we change how we meet the world.

Dear Reader, 

A friend recently shared a quotation from Marianne Williamson that caused me to reflect upon the nature of peace and our responsibility for finding it.

“As difficult as it can be to find genuine inner calm, it is the key to creating peace in the world as we know it. The world will not change until we do, and there is nothing the world can deliver to us that will give us the peace we crave. Peace comes not from the world, but from God.”

— Marianne Williamson, Everyday Grace

I find this quotation meaningful, particularly its suggestion that lasting peace cannot be obtained from the world around us.

Yet one statement invites further consideration: Peace comes not from the world, but from God.

As much as I believe in God, our Heavenly Father, as an infinite source of love and compassion, I wonder whether this statement, standing alone, gives sufficient recognition to our human agency.

If God is the source of peace, what responsibility do we have for cultivating that peace within ourselves and expressing it in the world around us?

I believe God has given us not only the capacity to receive divine love, but also the freedom to recognize it, nurture it, and share it with others.

In that understanding, peace is both a gift and a responsibility.

Learning to Meet Life as It Is

Over the years, particularly through my journey in recovery, I have spent considerable time learning about faith, acceptance, and the spiritual principles that help us live with greater serenity.

One of the most important lessons has been recognizing how often we make our happiness dependent upon something outside ourselves.

We tell ourselves that we will find peace when a problem is resolved, when another person changes, when our circumstances improve, or when life finally unfolds according to our expectations.

Yet life seldom accommodates those demands.

There will always be uncertainty, disappointment, sorrow, and circumstances beyond our control.

If our peace depends upon the absence of difficulties, we may spend a lifetime waiting for something that never arrives.

Peace does not require a perfect world.

It requires a willingness to live within an imperfect one without allowing its difficulties to govern our hearts.

Acceptance Is Not Surrendering Our Responsibility

Another important lesson from recovery is that serenity cannot be obtained by attempting to control other people or circumstances.

The more we struggle to control the people, places, and things around us, the more our peace often slips away.

The Serenity Prayer offers a different approach.

It asks God for the serenity to accept what we cannot change, the courage to change what we can, and the wisdom to recognize the difference.

Notice what the prayer does not ask.

It does not ask God to rearrange the world according to our wishes.

Instead, it invites us to understand what is ours to change and what we must release.

Acceptance is not defeat, nor is it an excuse for inaction.

It is the beginning of freedom from the exhausting belief that everything must happen according to our expectations.

Recovery did not teach me how to control life. It taught me how to participate in life without needing to control its outcome.

And in that freedom, I have discovered a deeper understanding of peace.

Faith and the Presence of God

I have also come to appreciate the quiet assurance that we are not alone in our experiences.

I believe that within the deepest reaches of our hearts and souls, we carry something of the divine nature of the God who created us.

A God of infinite love, compassion, and understanding.

Faith, for me, is not the certainty that everything will turn out as I wish. It is the trust that even when I cannot understand what is happening, God's love remains present.

Like the sheltering wings described throughout scripture, that love offers reassurance when life becomes uncertain.

It does not promise that difficulties will disappear.

It reminds us that we need not face them alone.

Jesus Christ understood the difficulties of mortal life. He experienced sorrow, rejection, suffering, and the uncertainty of those around Him.

Yet He offered His disciples a remarkable promise:

“Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you.” — John 14:27

Christ did not promise a world without suffering.

He offered a peace that could endure in the midst of it.

This distinction is important.

Peace does not mean that we will never experience fear, grief, anger, or uncertainty. These emotions are part of being human.

Rather, peace allows us to experience life's difficulties without surrendering the direction of our lives to them.

We may not always be able to choose our circumstances, but we retain the ability to choose how we respond.

And often, it is in that choice that our faith becomes visible.

Peace Is Love Expressed Through Action

There is another dimension to this understanding that I believe deserves our attention.

Must we first discover peace within ourselves before we can offer it to others?

Or might we discover God's peace through the very act of loving and serving another human being?

I have come to believe that these experiences are inseparable.

Consider the mortal ministry of Jesus Christ.

He did not withdraw from a troubled world in search of personal tranquility.

He entered that world.

He comforted those who were frightened, lifted those who had fallen, forgave those who had sinned, and reached toward those whom others had forgotten.

His peace was not passive.

It was love expressed through action.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus taught:

“Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.” — Matthew 5:9

Notice that He spoke of peacemakers, not simply those who possess peace.

Perhaps this is an invitation to recognize that the peace God offers us is not intended to remain within us.

It is meant to find expression in the way we treat one another.

A listening ear, a forgiving heart, a helping hand, or a moment of compassion may accomplish more than we realize.

We do not always need to solve another person's problems.

Sometimes our greatest contribution is simply to walk beside someone who is struggling, allowing that person to discover the courage and strength already within.

In helping another person find peace, we may discover a deeper peace within ourselves.

And in that moment, service becomes more than something we do.

It becomes an expression of who we are.

When God's Spirit Breathes New Life

Recently, while studying the prophet Ezekiel, I was particularly moved by his vision of the valley of dry bones.

In Ezekiel 37, the prophet sees a valley filled with bones, dry and seemingly without hope of life.

Yet through the breath of God's Spirit, those bones are brought together and restored to life.

The vision speaks of the restoration of the house of Israel, a people who believed their hope had been lost.

But I also find a personal spiritual lesson within that powerful image.

There are times when our own lives may seem like that valley.

Times when hope appears distant, when fear overwhelms us, or when the burdens of life leave us spiritually exhausted.

Yet the breath of divine love can awaken something within us.

Hope can return.

Faith can be renewed.

And a life that once seemed empty can again find meaning and purpose.

For me, the beauty of this image is not simply that life is restored, but that restored life has a purpose.

We are not renewed merely to exist.

We are renewed to love, to serve, and to participate in the lives of others.

The Book of Mormon offers a beautiful expression of this principle.

King Benjamin taught:

“When ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God.” — Mosiah 2:17

Here, I believe, we begin to understand the relationship between divine peace and human agency.

God offers love.

We choose how to express that love.

And through that expression, peace becomes something greater than an inward feeling.

It becomes a living influence in the world.

The Peace We Leave Behind

In the end, I have come to believe that peace is neither entirely a gift we passively receive nor something we can manufacture through our own efforts.

It grows through our relationship with God, through acceptance of life's circumstances, and through our willingness to act with love and compassion.

We cannot change the whole world.

We cannot remove every sorrow, prevent every disappointment, or eliminate the fears that others carry.

But we can make a difference in the world experienced by someone who encounters our kindness.

We can listen without judgment.

We can forgive without demanding something in return.

We can offer encouragement without attempting to control another person's journey.

We can extend a hand without insisting that someone take it.

And we can walk beside another person, trusting that each of us has a journey to fulfill.

Perhaps the greatest evidence of God's peace within us is not how calm we feel when life is comfortable, but how lovingly we respond when life becomes difficult.

I do not believe we must wait until we have achieved perfect inner peace before reaching out to others.

Sometimes it is through reaching out that we discover the peace we have been seeking.

God may be the source of peace, but we have been given the agency to become its expression.

And perhaps that is one of the greatest purposes of our mortal journey: to recognize the love of God within us and allow that love to become visible in the world around us.

One day at a time. One act of kindness at a time. One soul at a time.

🙏🧘‍♂️💕🤗☮️