December 10 is the second Sunday of Advent this year. The theme for the week is “Peace.” As you go through your days this week, whenever a conflict or even a negative thought arises, remember to say to yourself, “I choose peace instead of this.”
To cultivate peace, we begin by looking inside ourselves to see where the shoots of violence and injustice grow out of us. This does not result in a withdrawal from the world’s problems. It leads us first and foremost into our depths in order to bring them to God’s healing light.
Out of our own healing we move into the larger world to work for peace, even if it’s beginning with just one person. It is out of our own struggle that we are able to understand and assist others—our brothers and sisters who travel the same path.
The Dalai Lama once said, “We often talk about world peace. And world peace is important. But how can we attain world peace? World peace will not come from the sky, nor from the earth. World peace must come through mental peace. Genuine peace is not just the absence of war. Peace is more than that. Peace means genuine tranquility; I think peace must come from individual transformation. So, whether at the level of family members, or at the national level, I believe a good heart is the foundation.”
A good heart. There must be peace in the heart. Our hearts.
And if, through thoughtful self-examination, change, and transformation, a few of us find peace in our hearts, and then more, and then many, we will be like the wildflowers in the field of the world, first a few, and then many, because the world must have it, because the earth, forever turning, must have it: “wildpeace.”
Let us envision that field of wildflowers covering the world in peace. May each of us feel the light and peace of Spirit this Christmas Season!
Blessings of peace,
Rev. Kathy
