Moving Forward

Finding peace seems to be one of the fundamental goals of humanity. Whether it is at the end of the day or as a way of life people seek peace. Some do it by closing down in their home, or reading a good book, listening to music, writing their thoughts in a journal. Some seek it by fighting against something – stopping war, hunger, disease, poverty. Some do it through exertion – working out in a gym, or joining a game, or challenging themselves with puzzles. Some do it in a pub, not by getting drunk, but by enjoying and engaging community in an harmonious connection. And, of course, there are those who seek it through chemicals… which become addictive by their pretense of peace. All these ways of seeking peace have value, but Jesus speaks of a peace that doesn’t depend on any of them.

          Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”

          That’s an intriguing promise, in part, because its context is an intimate setting, a meal with some of his best friends, and because of all that he expected to face in the next hours. I find that this peace is revealed as we move forward – as Jesus did, learning from life, but allowing it to be what it is and working with whatever is before us. There is a settling assurance that gathers. It reaches toward fulfillment when God is part of it. It is companionship that is captured in the Greek word used in the New Testament for the Spirit – paraclete… “the walking-alongside one.” It is found in the walking, the moving forward.

          There’s something of peace within walking. It’s not an establishment of order or seeking after a remembrance of an “Eden” paradise. It is found in not denying, not avoiding, and not pretending things are fine.

Instead, we learn from what has happened. We don’t demand that life be different than it is. We work with what is in front of us. We keep moving, step by step.

This is peace as alignment with reality, not escape from it. It’s trust rather than control.

At one of the lowest points in my life, I turned to God and asked, “What should I learn from this?” In reflection, I realized that, regardless of the lesson about myself, my character or choices, more than how I understood the damage done to me or that I may have done to others, beyond any of that was that there was someone with me who would lead me into the next thing. Peace that walks in relationship, even in conversation, is the kind of peace I believe Jesus left with us.