Every morning I spend time doing things that increase my level of spiritual energy and connect to me to God.  It usually includes things like prayer, meditation, creation writing, music, and my favorite indulgence—a cup of herbal tea.  This ritual is such a staple of my existence that I would hardly know how to live well without it.  It’s as though I hook up my spirit to an oxygen tank each day, inhale deeply, and have enough life to live optimally the rest of the day.  This morning, mid routine, my spirit had a message for me—Be Peace.

Hmmmm…. Really?

I sat with this a while.  Why did I get this message?  Maybe it had something to do with my shoulders being so tight, I’d taken a daily dose of Ibuprofen for two weeks along with getting a ninety minute massage…and they still hurt.  Perhaps it was because I decided to Spring Clean my entire house in four days? (last accomplished in 2005) and snapped at my kids for leaving their toys out?  Or maybe when that guy at the grocery store…

Okay, I get it.  I’m out of alignment in more ways than one.  The past few days, I have been rushing around overly focused on my task list.  But what is the good of getting my outer life in order if my inner life is unraveling?  Even as I write this, I feel tension in my body loosening, and warm waves of peace washing over me to soothe the hurt spaces.  My spirit is opening again and I remember that it’s really not that far from one spot to another. Awareness.  That’s the first step; then the rest comes.  

Well, this ends today.  I am going to live from peace again.  I am going to skip my weightlifting work out and walk in nature.  I am going to let the laundry go and look my children in the eye when they talk to me.  I am going to focus on my breathing and make decisions from my heart.  I am going to pray for people I care about and call one of my friends and tell them I love them. 

You and I were created to be peaceful.  In fact, we entered the world as peaceful beings.  Stress, anxiety, fear, and impatience are spiritually dysfunctional behaviors we have learned here.  But we can undo them and recall our own divinity.  Like our Creator, we are peaceful, loving Beings on a journey to remember who we are and live from every aspect of wholeness–especially peace. 

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Some words on peace…   

For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” 2 Timothy 1:6-7

“Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without.”- Buddha

"If there is to be peace in the world,
There must be peace in the nations.
If there is to be peace in the nations,
There must be peace in the cities.
If there is to be peace in the cities,
There must be peace between neighbors.
If there is to be peace between neighbors,
There must be peace in the home.
If there is to be peace in the home,
There must be peace in the heart."
-Lao Tzu

“What can you do to promote world peace? Go home and love your family.”
Mother Teresa