We All Want Peace
Making Meaning of the Message
I believe at our core we all long for God’s peace. But at the same time, we tend to be unaware of what is blocking true spiritual peace in our lives. No matter what our individual circumstances are, it is always unconsciousness when we flood our minds with compulsive, repetitive, negative thoughts, emotions, and reactions, and that causes us to lose access to the power and peace of the present moment. The peace of the present moment keeps us coming back and renews us throughout the day. We won’t settle for getting lost in compulsive negative thinking. We know we have a choice. We stop mistaking that unconscious voice in our head for who we are. Our ego no longer has power over us. That is the greatest gift God has given us—presence and peace. Presence is not a mindset, but a surrender to the spiritual power of the present moment, which humbles us because we know we cannot do anything meaningful in our life without connecting to God’s spiritual energy through stillness. That is when God changes us from the inside, which ultimately changes everything we do outside.
Set the Intention
God, the peace that you gave your son and in turn he gave to us is the only power that can stop our inner fears and conflicts.
Practice Presence
Bring in stillness and ask yourself the three questions to gauge your progress:
Am I present now?
How do I feel inside?
Do I have a sense of peace within at some level?
See pages 10–11 of Choosing Presence for the details of this exercise or use the Practicing Presence—A Christian Way app to help you remember to take three conscious breaths or more every hour, to access God’s spiritual energy.
*Heaney, Jim. “We All Want Peace.” Choosing Presence, Turning Stone Press, 2020, pp. 87-99. [Adapted with permission.]
