“The Peacemaker’s Path: Multifaith Faith Reflections to Deepen Your Spirituality.”
My book combines wisdom from the world’s major religious traditions, showing that we have much more in common than what divides us.Through daily readings that explore the tenets, teachings, writings, and prayers of these diverse faith traditions, you will gain new insight, understanding, and connection with people from different religious backgrounds. Each day offers a reflection, scripture passages from the world’s religions, questions to contemplate, a call to action, and a closing prayer.
I will post the six aspects of this theme over the coming days. If you find this chapter meaningful, I invite you to read the other five themes
Theme Six: Quest for Peace- Introduction
General Omar Bradley was one of the most honored and decorated soldiers in American history, and this is what he had to say about the problems of peace:
“With the monstrous weapons, man already has humanity in danger of being trapped in this world by its moral adolescence. Our knowledge of science has outstripped our capacity to control it. We have too many men of science and too few men of God. We have grasped the mystery of the atom and rejected the Sermon on the Mount. Man is stumbling blindly through a spiritual darkness while toying with precarious secrets of life and death.
The world has achieved brilliance without wisdom, and power without conscience. Ours is a world of nuclear giants and ethical infants. We know more about war than we know about peace; more about killing than we know about living.” (Armistice Day Address, Boston, 1948)
In October 2019, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for brokering a peace deal between African nations that had been at war for two decades. It was also inspiring to see hundreds of deserving nominees for the 100th Peace Prize.
Since Armistice Day, we have made strides in bringing justice and peace to our world, but there is still much work to be done.
“Peace is a daily, a weekly, a monthly process,
gradually changing opinions, slowly eroding old barriers,
quietly building new structures.”
John F. Kennedy
Day Thirty-Six: Peace Within
“World peace begins with inner peace.”
Dalai Lama
Ray Steadman, a pastor and the author states, “Many people come to me, as to any pastor, with various problems involving conflict. Usually, they are upset, troubled, discouraged, angry. They report to me at great length all the terrible things the other person has done and all the reasons why they are justified in being so angry and feeling so mistreated. I listen to it all, and then I have to say to them, “Yes, you’ve got a problem. But that isn’t your only problem. You have two problems. And the one you haven’t mentioned is the one you must start with.” Then I must point out to them that their basic problem is that they don’t have any peace themselves. They are not at peace. They are upset, angry, and emotionally distraught. And everything they do and think is colored by that emotional state. They can’t see anything straight; they don’t see things in balance, their perspective is distorted, everything is out of focus. And it is impossible to solve the problem until they acquire peace.”
Many of us desire inner peace. In some ways, the answer is simple and yet takes a lifetime to achieve. Our conflicts with others diminish when we have a strong sense of inner peace. When we are single, it is easy to walk away from relationships if people irritate us. We can blame others for our unhappiness. The blessing and the challenge of being married are you cannot walk away from your spouse. If you are committed to making the marriage work, you must stay engaged with the other person. When we first get married, we might find ourselves arguing with our spouse over issues that, two days later, we can’t remember what was bothering us. When we realize we can’t change our spouse, we can only change ourselves is when we begin to find inner peace.
“I wanted to change the world.
But I found that the only thing one can be sure of changing is oneself.”
Aldous Huxley (1894-1963) was An English philosopher and writer
There is truth in realizing that world peace begins with inner peace. As we learn to love ourselves and be willing to work on the areas of our personality that need to mature, we start manifesting the peace within. A fundamental principle that can help one gain inner peace is described by Henry Ward Beecher (1813-1887) an American Congregationalist clergyman and social reformer.
“If one should give me a dish of sand and tell me there were particles of iron in it, I might look for them with my eyes, and search for them with my clumsy fingers, and be unable to detect them; but let me take a magnet and sweep through it, and how would it draw to itself the almost invisible particles by the mere power of attraction. The unthankful heart, like my finger in the sand, discovers no mercies; but let the thankful heart sweep through the day, and as the magnet finds the iron so that it will find, in every hour, some heavenly blessings.”
Having a heart of thankfulness is essential to finding peace within. Many people are so focused on going from one activity to another or completing one task, so they can go to the next task that, at the end of the week, they can’t even remember what they did that last week.
I loved playing golf, but I was never happy with my score. Even when I hit a good drive or made a good chip, I would focus on what I didn’t do to make it a perfect shot. If I played one of my best rounds of golf, I would still focus on what shots I messed up that stopped me from making an even lower score. When I became the Senior Minister at Augusta Christian Church in Indianapolis, Indiana, my best friend Scott Colglazier became the Senior Minister at Southport Christian Church in Southport, Indiana, a suburb of Indianapolis.
Scott was able to enjoy the game without fretting over every shot. One summer morning, we went out at 6:30 am to play a round of golf. The sun was rising over the horizon, and a hazy mist was still in the air. No one was on the course yet, and we had the fairway to ourselves. As we approached the first hole, Scott stopped walking. “Today, I want us not to keep score. Let’s play a round of golf and enjoy the experience. When you hit your shot, and it feels like you made a solid connection that sends the ball soaring into the sky, don’t worry about where it lands. Take a moment and feel the glow within as you make this fusion of man, club, and ball. As golfers always would say, “be the ball.” As we walked the course, not worrying about our score I enjoyed focusing on the richness of the experience. I felt the glow of appreciation for my friendship with Scott and the magical moments when I was one with the ball as it soared into the horizon. I still hit plenty of bad shots, but at the end of the round, I felt gratitude for being able to play golf with my dear friend. That experience helped me learn not to fret so much when I played golf or in other areas of my life as well.
There is real value in taking time to appreciate and take in the richness of the present moment. Living with a thankful heart helps us be aware of the blessings we encounter each day.
When we can live our day with an attitude of thankfulness, inner peace grows within.
Reflect on these scriptures from different faith sources
“The Lord lives in the heart of every creature. He turns them round and round upon the wheel of his Maya. Take refuge utterly in Him. By His grace, you will find supreme peace and the state which is beyond all change.” (Bhagavad Gita 18.61-62, Hinduism)
“Just as a deep lake is clear and still, even so, on hearing the teachings and realizing them, the wise become exceedingly peaceful.” (Dhammapada 82, Buddhism)
“The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.” (Numbers 6:24-26, Judaism)
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” (John 14:27, Christianity)
“He is the Giver of the soul, and the praana, the breath of life, when He dwells within the mind, there is peace.” (Guru Granth Sahib, Siree Raag 5:15, Sikhism)
“God shall bestow upon his heart divine tranquility and cause him to be of them that are at peace with themselves.” (Gems of Divine Mysteries p.23. Baha’i)
Questions for Reflection
- As you think about your inner peace, on a scale of 1-10, with ten at total peace within, how do you rank yourself?
- What stops you from living with the inner peace the scriptures teach us?
- What is one thing you can do to help bring inner peace?
A Call to Action for Today
Write a list of blessings you have in your life and see if it brings peace within.
A Closing Prayer by Dr. David Carlson
David Carlson, Professor Emeritus of Philosophy and Religion, Franklin College, Franklin, Indiana, and author of Peace Be with You: Monastic Wisdom for a Terror-Filled World (2011) and Countering Religious Extremism: The Healing Power of Spiritual Friendships (2016).
Creator of Us All,
Within each human being’s heart, You have placed a longing for peace.
Our deepest desire is to discover in our neighbors the sisters and brothers of our one human family. Forgive us for living at odds with our deepest longings and desires, for our tendency to build walls of separation instead of bridges of understanding and compassion.
May we always experience regret and sorrow when we treat others with suspicion and hatred. May wars and intolerance continue to wound our hearts so that, in our wounding,
we will seek the healing balm of peace.