Peace Be With You
He did not speak peace to a gentle sea but to wild waves and seasick disciples.
He did not speak peace to a life on track but to an unwed teen who would soon birth God.
He did not speak peace to courageous believers but to hiding men who thought Christ was a ghost.
Peace, it seems, is heard the loudest in the places we think it shouldn't belong.
So in this year of chaos and loss, may the peace of Christ ring loud in your ears
and echo its comfort in the depths of your heart.
The Prince of Peace has come.
Mary & the Power of Peace
Click on the gallery below for a contemplative reading from Luke 1:26-38 (NIV)
Songs of Peace
Click on the songs below for songs of peace. May these songs land softly.
Poems of Peace
These poems, from my journal, were written during past peace weeks. Don't expect polished edges, here. It's a little too raw for that.
"And Then the Angel Left Her"
A journal poem from peace week, 2022
Minutes? Hours?
How long
was she still
in the aftermath?
How long
after lightning strikes
do you wait
before you stand
pick up
your broom
or laundry tub
and get on with your day?
A flash.
A word.
Everything transforms
except
that nothing does
and there is nothing
to be done
but to rise
and wait
and carry
the forming bones
of God in your flesh.
After the thunder
of the angel
and the flash
of light
Does the silence
of absence
ring? Does regular
daylight dim?
How long
was she still?
And when she moved-
then what?
And tell me
of the moment
her mother
entered
with a grocery list
or crying child.
Did Mary speak
of the holy intruder
or grab a fistful
of pomegranate seeds
and crush them
in her teeth?
"The Quickening"
A journal poem from advent week, 2022
The first flutter
feels soft. You wonder
if its hunger.
It returns, whispers
in the deepest places
of your body
Something coming
awake
something very near
the raw parts
of your soul. A stir
to say
you are not alone.
A notion made real
with one tiny flip
in the core
of your being. Everything responds.
Heart. Lungs. Brain.
When the Mother
first felt the rustle of God
in the well of her frame
did she mistake it
for the hunger it was?
Did she laugh?
or cry? Or sing another song
for the holy mystery
tucked in her skin?
And we? We modern Marys
who carry the Spirit
of God in our flesh?
May we place our hands
on our bodies and feel
the Son of God stirring within.
May we laugh and cry
and sing with delight
for what we have to birth.
Hunger and hope.
Wriggling life.
God entwined with our cells.
Art & Photography for Peace
Click on the gallery below to dive into images - ancient & modern - of Mary, hope, light, and darkness.
Prayers of Peace
Ancient prayers. Breath prayers. Scripture prayers. Lean on these or create your own.
O Wisdom, Lord and Ruler, Root of Jesse, Key of David, Rising Sun, King of the Nations, Emmanuel, Come, Lord Jesus.
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace: where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy. O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console, to be understood as to understand, to be loved as to love...
O God, grant me serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can and wisdom to know the difference; living one day at a time, enjoying one moment at a time; accepting hardships as a pathway to peace; taking, as Jesus did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it; trusting that You will make all things right if I surrender to Your will; so that I may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with You forever in the next.
O Lord, open my eyes that I may see the needs of others Open my ears that I may hear their cries; Open my heart so that they need not be without succor; Let me not be afraid to defend the weak because of the anger of the strong, Nor afraid to defend the poor because of the anger of the rich. Show me where love and hope and faith are needed, And use me to bring them to those places. And so open my eyes and my ears That I may this coming day be able to do some work of peace for thee. (Alan Paton)
Inhale: "May it be to me" Exhale: "according to Your word."
"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” -John 14:27
“In peace I will lie down and sleep, for You alone, Lord, make me dwell in safety”
"The Peace of Wild Things" When despair grows in me and I wake in the night at the least sound in fear of what my life and my children's lives may be, I go and lie down where the wood drake rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds. I come into the peace of wild things who do not tax their lives with forethought of grief.
Journal Prompts
Use them all, or only a few, or none at all.
Notice which ones draw you. Notice which ones repel you. Create your own. Draw. Discuss. Play.
May these prompts serve as a springboard.
01.
Longings.
Where in your life would you like to see peace kindled?
02.
Resistance.
Does anything in you resist peace? Consider the push-back.
03.
Vulnerability.
Is there anything you would like to receive from Jesus before embracing peace?
04.
History.
When have you received a peace that passes understanding?
05.
Love.
How does God interact with your turbulence? Consider His face, and His delight in you.