Dear Spiritual Family,
How busy our minds can be these days! And in the midst of this “busyness,” it is a good time to pause, to breathe, and to shift our focus to God. In Isaiah 26:3,4, “Thou wilt keep us in perfect peace, for in Thee we have trusted, O Lord, for ever and ever. For the Lord God is an everlasting strength.”
This “recipe” for peace is clear and simple. Turn your thoughts away from the discord and focus on God. The message for this week is a follow-up to the video message of last Sunday, “Keep Calm and Wake Up Jesus.” In light of all the chatter that is going on all around us, we felt it would be helpful.
Imagine a time in your life when you experienced the comfort of a loving parent or a mother or father figure who held you close and assured you that everything was going to be all right. You felt the gentle authority in their voice and the strength of their statement. Above all, you felt their love for you.
God is the everlasting strength that the prophet Isaiah was speaking of. In our hearts, we know this to be true. To turn within to The Kingdom of Love, of Comfort, and of Peace is to seek this Kingdom of God as Jesus exhorted us to do. As we do so, as we deeply focus on feeling the Divine, the “other” thoughts are quieted. We are filled with a knowing that everything not only will be okay, but that everything in Truth is okay.
And what about our “neighbor?” How do you look on her or him or those who see things so differently from you? “Be humble, be gentle, and be patient with each other.” Ephesians 4:3.
Remembering the enduring words from Rumi:
Beyond ideas of wrongdoing and right doing, there is a field. I’ll meet you there.
Our Christ Nature, that which we are, beckons each of us to be gentle and humble and patient with each other. It calls on the authentic Self of each of us to lay aside thoughts of right and wrong, good and bad and walk gently to that “field” where peace awaits our coming.
We love you, Rev. Steve and Mary