The Peace of Christ

John 20:19b
Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!"


One of the things I really like about the Muyskens book is the bible passage he provides for the reader to meditate upon after spending time in Centering Prayer(CP). By spending the time in quiet communion with God during CP, we are often open to hearing the Living Word. This meditation on scripture is called lectio divina(divine reading) and is a practice started back in the 3rd century by one of the early church fathers, Origen.  The idea is to read through the passage listening for a word from God, then to meditate on that word and what God wants us to hear, and finally to pray for God's guidance and direction. Muyskens suggests journaling our thoughts and impressions gleaned during this time of meditation. I highly recommend this because it is a great blessing to be able to go back and see how our heavenly Father was leading us at a particular time in our spiritual journey.
A couple of weeks ago I was meditating on the above passage. Like many of you, there are a lot of things going on in my life that try to war against the peace in my heart. I have one close relative struggling with mental health issues, another struggling with alcoholism and my father is near death(I am writing this in the ICU waiting room). I have missed many days work due to the above concerns and I have had some anxiety over finances. I can say that ordinarily I don't worry about many things. Yet friends, relatives and the wisdom of the world all try to sabotage my equanimity. It may seem like I am complaining, but I am not. If my peace can be easily disrupted by external forces, then it probably is not the "peace that passeth understanding".  For many years this was the case as I kicked against the goads. Not only was it painful for me, it was painful for those around me, especially my family. Dizzying heights and oppressive depths were the order of the day.  Life was a roller coaster as I looked for the next thing that would would bring me happiness, only to be disappointed when I achieved it or had my hopes dashed when it was denied.  Even looking for spiritual highs did not give me the peace of Christ. The sensation that spiritual junk food gives did not provide lasting satisfaction.  The peace of Christ is not some all-you-can-eat buffet where I could choose from all the things that delight the eye and sate the spiritual appetite. I found that the peace of Christ was found in one spiritual reality for me.  Once I encountered the love of the Father, I understood the peace of Christ(see Love of God post). The love of God called me to complete trust and surrender because of the sacrifice of Christ Jesus.  If He is all-powerful, and He loves me unconditionally, is there anything from which I am unable to recover by His grace an mercy?   Even death is not a loss. God can take my most bone-headed play and turn it to gold, and I have made a number of them.  I don't have it all figured out, but I know that God has my back, and he is just as close to me in good times as in difficult. He knows what is best for me better than I do and keeps me from things that would most assuredly harm me. He takes my failures and disappointments and use them as discipline and instruction for my spiritual benefit. My goal in life is to live as if there are no good times or bad times, because they are all good in Christ Jesus. That is the peace of Christ.

Peace be with You,
Adam