These Are My JOTtings...

The Gift of Peace

If there is one consistent desire in the human heart,
then I think it would be the desire to live in peace.

What does it mean to live in peace?
No doubt it means different things to different people.

Living in peace could mean that everybody in the family stops shouting for a day.
That would be the cessation of hostilities on an interpersonal level.
This was a biggie for me as a child.
We had that one family member, who made their needs known, loudly,...often,
but during the months of November & December each of those formative years,...
this person wore a smile and was generally peaceful.
Is there any wonder why the Christmas season is my favorite time of year?

Living in peace could mean the few minutes of contemplation,
shared with oneself over a cup of coffee or tea.
This need is one reason why I consider coffee shops and tea rooms
to be a staple for a healthy mind.
As a rule I would say that life a century ago was much simpler.
Today with the internet and technology,
it's hard to imagine the cessation of thought
or deliverance from AD/HD interruptions
without a Herculean effort to "come apart and rest awhile,"
before we "come apart," completely.

Living in peace could mean the quiet minutes of reflection
in front of a roaring fire,
while we debrief from the past three hours spent
in a raging mall full of last-minute Christmas shoppers.
Life tends to pass before one's eyes in short order
in the presence of harried shoppers.
The flames that emanate from the logs
remind us of the fires of affliction
that we've endured to provide gifts for our loved ones
as well as the purification of motives for living,
while thanking God that we are still alive.

Living in peace could mean...
silent moments,...
loving smiles between friends and family members,...
a mind that is finally clear of interruptions,...
or...
a settled confidence that all is right
between me and my world,...
between me and others in my world,...
between me and God,...
between me and my Now,...
my past,...
my Future.

Peace is the restoration of the broken pieces into a new integrated whole.

Peace is the ability to restore the glass that fell on the floor
into the state of never having fallen in the first place.

Some have told me that God is just a myth.
These same people tell that I hold onto God like a crutch.
Maybe so,...
I know how broken I am in myself.
I need peace that I can't restore by my own meager abilities.

I need a crutch.
I need Someone on Whom to lean.

Have you ever found anyone,
who doesn't need a friend upon whom to lean at some time in his or her life?

For me peace, true peace, is found at Christmas time.
The Prince of Peace came as a little baby in a hay-filled meager manger.
He bought my everlasting Peace on a rugged cross.
He sealed my Peace by raising Himself on the third Day,
that I call, "Secret Christmas."

I need an everlasting Friend upon Whom to lean.
I need Him to carry me.
I need the Peace that He gives to me. (John 3:16)

I am the broken glass.
He is the One, Who restores me to wholeness
as though I was never broken in the first place.

May you receive Peace
in His greatest form this Christmas.

Or...may you receive some form of peace
in whatever manner
you are able to receive it this Christmas.

May December, 2017 bring you peace
in the joys of Christmas,...
in the miracle of Chanukah,...
in the moments...
of the cessation of harried activity,...
in the freedom from interrupting thoughts,...
in the restoration of wholeness all the way to your core.

If you ever hear this writer mention
his having a Christmas Moment,
then it is the enjoyment of a time of peace.
I realize that some cultures call this, "Zen."
Zen appears to be going in the direction
of the concept I seek at any given moment,
but for me there is a little bit more.

I am a very relational person.
A state of peace, within and without,
does sound like it is quite hopeful,
but I need to share this tranquility
with my deepest relationship.

Being tranquil in the arms of (or the nearness of)
Jesus of Nazareth, the Person,
is my greatest moment of peace.

I pray that you find
(or are given)
this deepest level of Peace
this very Christmas.

by Jay O'Toole
on December 20th, 2017