Peace
“Eeny, meeny, miny, moe” is how it seems I have resorted to making important decisions lately. I can’t seem to shake the powerlessness of how random God’s intervention feels in the midst of chaos. Decision making is difficult and rarely do we receive the support we need to navigate what is best for ourselves and our family. Decision making is especially difficult during a pandemic that forces us into a nearly constant state of trauma. We are regularly making life-altering decisions about sending kids to school, whether to visit family, whether or not we should enter assisted living, and whether it’s safe to venture out to this location or that function. As a church, we’ve been wrestling with when to gather in-person again for months now. Of course, everyone wants to be back, but when is it safe? We face important decisions that are always laced with seen and unseen consequences.
Like me, you may have spent countless hours in prayer throughout these many months. Prayer involves both listening for God and speaking to God. There is power in articulating and naming the concerns that weigh heavy on our hearts. Before we can move forward, confident in our decision, we have to synchronize our hearts, minds, and God’s will. A phrase that I find helpful is “always make decisions that prioritize your inner peace.” That is what prayer is, finding inner peace. Many Christians mistakingly understand prayer as a means of summoning a cosmic genie, which only throws God under the bus when our wishes aren’t granted. Instead, God’s promises to always remain beside us. God accompanies us in the process of decision making. The Holy Spirit is sometimes the faintest of whispers nudging us to make the decision that leans toward inner peace.
As we have come to discover in many aspects of societal life, peace is often not the easiest path, but the necessary one. As the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. famously declared “peace is not the absence of conflict, but the presence of justice.” When the Hebrew Scripture mentions peace, it is describing a state of being. Peace as Shalom. Following Jesus’ new commandment to love one another, he declares “peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you, do not let your hearts be troubled” (John 14:27). Jesus knew how difficult the task of finding peace would be for his people. Jesus encourages us to draw closer to peace in troubled times.
Not only do we have prayer as a tool, but we’re also given the gift of community. If there was one misnomer that I could set straight, it is the idea that asking for help is a sign of weakness. This is foolishness! Seeking help reveals strength. Our toxic emphasis on individualism is not only destroying our country, it’s also eroding our relationships and communities. We need one another. The beauty of the kind of world Jesus advocates for is one where our successes and failures are interwoven. Not only is my lending a hand helpful for you, but lending a hand is what mends my soul. As a beloved community, we not only have one another to offer support in decision making, but also to creating peace for ALL people. Together, God calls us to live into the power of the Holy Spirit. God calls us to lean on the goodness and love of our neighbor. God smiles when we draw closer to God’s kin-dom, which occurs whenever we draw closer to each other. When we listen and pray, it’s God’s peace that is ushered into our lives and the world.
With Joining Hands,
Pr. Lucas McSurley
Photo by Alice Donovan Rouse