Peace & Bitterness - Day 23

Yesterday was a hard day for me. I won't go into all of the reasons, but it was not an easy day for me to get through. I took a minute to visit our facebook group and was immediately grateful. Our friend Tom shared his images of peace, the people that fill that peaceful space, and the daily life-work it takes to make this peaceful perspective a reality. I was struck, not just by the beautiful imagery and honesty, but by the way even reading about his peace brought me peace as well. What a powerful thing, that by sharing our visions of peace, no matter how unique they may be to our perspective, we can pass the peace on to someone else. I am still resting in awe over this.



So why don't we pass the peace more often?!!

I am thankful that even though getting through yesterday was hard, there are people in my life who popped in at just the right time. Tom's writing, as I mentioned above, but also other good people who have so often shared peace with me in my life...

Family. This includes a young nephew who lives on the other side of the country. (You know, young enough that you assume he doesn't even remember you because you see each other so rarely?) Well, yesterday he remembered me in the way only a child could. His mom was kind enough to tell me as soon as it happened... He was jumping in a spaceship to go to the beach house and visit me. To be included in my nephew's imagination? That brings me plenty of joy. But peace as well. Being remembered in such a randomly unexpected way reminds me I'm not alone, rotting away in my rotten day.

Friends. Sending me support, prayers, and good thoughts through texts. I especially appreciated my tech-savvy-millennial-friend who stopped our typing convo short to make a video call to me instead. Seeing and hearing someone makes a big difference! (I'm just old enough I don't immediately thing of something as easy as a video call ...that still feels like something from the Jetsons to me...  and I'm still amazed with Instant Messaging.) Anyways, seeing your smile and hearing your voice (much calmer than I felt) helped pull me through the roughest point. Thanks friend! Again, these friends in their own ways passed the peace on to me through something as simple as a text message, even when they weren't aware how much I needed it. Another moment to remind me, I'm not alone, rotting away in my rotten day.

Lola. All I have to do is look into her eyes and I find peace.

So there I was yesterday, during a week when I was supposed to be focused on peace and bitterness, struggling. And there I was, working through it all. Peace is work. Not giving into bitterness is work. When speaking of peace, we often forget that work that goes with it and jump right to the end product instead. But peace, like sabbath, is daily work in progress. We are given glimpses and pieces of it through the people around us, through the gifts we recognize, but peace is mostly something we work toward. We need each other in order to make the work complete. We can't do it alone. We pass the peace by reminding each other we are not alone in this big, crazy world. 

So that's it, that's your assignment today "daily order" people... Pass the peace. Let people know you notice them. If you're thinking of someone, even someone random, let them know. There's no reason to put it off for another time. They might be grateful, they might be surprised, they might be annoyed, or even refuse to accept it. You don't have control over that. What you can do though, is pass the peace anyway. Write a letter, send a card, instant message, skype, text, comment, hug, call, shake hands, send a song, take a picture, share a picture... pass the peace.

May the peace of the Lord be with you always.