Category: Peace

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Leadership and Trust

I just had another thought, thinking about leadership. It’s trust. I trust You. I do. But I don’t always trust folks. I don’t always trust folks who say they speak for You. I don’t want to be led astray, especially not in Your Name. And I don’t want to do that to anyone else, either. There’s another discomfort with the notion of leadership for me.

That comes back to what we talked about earlier, character. A leader’s heart is a loving heart. As long as you are walking in love, and speaking from love, you never need to worry about leading anyone else astray. And Love is your discernment as well. If you ever wonder if the counsel you are hearing from another is wise, and is right for you, use the love meter. Give it the love test. How does that counsel sit in your spirit? Is it occupying primarily a place of power, where others are forced to go along out of fear? Or is it emanating from love and concern for others? You have learned to measure decisions and weigh courses of action by gauging how peaceful they feel inside you, whether they bring you peace or increase your agitation. You have learned to follow the peace. Use similar assessment skills when someone else is seeking to be a leader in your own life or over your own heart–check their words and actions against what an attitude or action centered in love would look like or sound like. If it aligns, you know the action proposed is wise, and true, and then you can use your peace to determine if it is best for you, and in this time. But if the attitude or action reveals itself to be based in something other than love, such as fear, or pride, or arrogance, or prejudice, then you don’t even have to weight it against peace. It has already failed the love test. First consider love, then consider peace. Lastly consider joy. If whatever action you are contemplating meets all three of these, then you can feel confident about making a decision.

Humans err when they consider what they think is joy first, without regard to either peace or love. That can easily lead to a lifestyle rooted in selfishness. But if you approach your life first from love and next from peace, and lastly from joy, you will overflow with all three and you will not be able to contain all the blessings you will receive–nor will you be able to contain all the blessings you will be moved to give, for your heart and life will overflow toward others. Giving won’t then feel like a sacrifice or a burden, but will become a natural response, a counterpoint rhythm, as you share the many blessings you are receiving. And that, my dear, is leadership in action. Rooted in love, grounded in peace, and expressed in joy.

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Keeping Peace

Lord, I want to talk to You tonight about amends. And about peacekeeping. Or peace-making. Actually, what I want to talk to you about is that verse in the Psalms, I forget where it is exactly, I am for peace, but when I speak, they are for war. That is what I want to talk about, how to keep peace, how to maintain it.

The first place you have to maintain peace is within yourself. You be at peace. Be at peace with Me. If you are at peace with Me, part of what that means is, let My Peace prevail within you. Let My Peace permeate your being.

Lord, I got this sudden visual, of a hurricane, and that made me remember a line in my friend Judy’s poem, now for me comes the calm i of the storm…

Yes, you can live at peace even in the midst of a storm. You can be an oasis of calm.

But what if the people you care most about in the world are in that storm? What if they are trapped in that storm, or, worse yet, even causing the storm? Then what?

This is what turn the cheek means–sometimes you have to take a breath and turn aside. You have to decide that your peace is more important than their war. The hard truth is, you cannot argue them into peace, not within themselves, not between themselves. You cannot argue anyone else into peace with you. You can only extend your peace, extend your love, and hope and pray they listen.

What if they don’t? 

Love never gives up. That doesn’t mean you continue to fuel someone else’s fire, but it does mean you can continue to hold your peace, in hope they will find their own. Think about that phrase a minute: hold your peace. You use it to mean, keep quiet. Keep silent, don’t speak up, don’t speak out. But think about it literally–hold your peace. Keep  your peace close to your heart. Hold on to your peace, don’t give it away, don’t give it up.

It hurts, to want peace so badly and to feel in my spiritual bones that a storm is coming. I know a little bit what to do in the natural. I know how to remove objects that could become missiles, to prepare for the power to go out, to stockpile water, maybe even shutter windows against flying debris, and to make sure my vehicle is safe on high ground. But spiritually? I know about building your house, your life, on solid ground, on You. On Your Love. That’s my rock. But what else can I do?

Here is what you can’t do. You cannot accurately forecast the wind speed or direction, or anticipate every flying object that might be hurled in your direction. But you can rely on My Peace as a guidance system, to tell you in the moment how to react, what to do or not do, and how to keep yourself safe, and on an even keel, emotionally and physically and spiritually.

Lord, I just feel like a hurricane is coming. A tsunami, a great raging wall of anger and upset. I see it in our country and I see it in the family. And it frightens me.

And what have I promised you? I have promised you that you will not drown. You will neither drown in a sea of rage, nor die of thirst in drought. I have promised you will be safe, safe in Me, safe in My Love, safe in My Armor, safe in My Peace. You won’t have to fight to keep yourself safe. You won’t have to abandon who you are. It may be, once the initial storm passes, that you will look around and find your world is smaller, but it will be yours, and it will be beautiful. Why beautiful? Because it will reflect who you are at your core: loving, peaceful, grateful, joyful. So be at Peace now, little one. Do not sleep fearing a nightmare in your future. What have I said, over and over? Perfect Love casts out all fear. And where is perfect Love? Right here. Surrounding you. That is your spiritual safety–My Perfect Love.

Here is something else I can promise you. As I Am fully and completely Myself, you will remain fully and completely yourself. You will not snap, you will not break, you will not shatter. In fact, the power you possess, which is gentle strength, the strength to love in the midst of the storm, is a gift from Me, and no one can take that away from you.

Now I want you to relax, and let go. Let go of your angst and your anguish over anyone else’s choices. That is hard for you. But as I told you before, you can be compassionate without taking on responsibility for anyone else’s choices. You learned this once. You can learn this again.

So in answer to your question, how can you remain at peace if the world around you goes to war? Be a conscientious objector. You don’t have to be objectionable, or obnoxious. Just purpose in your heart to utter a Divine No. And how do you do that? You say Yes to Me. Just as darkness cannot exist where there is even the tiniest light, so war cannot exist in a life or heart, as yours, where there is a commitment to peace. Follow Me, your Prince of Peace, and within you, all shall be well.

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Calling on Angels

NOTE: This particular entry dates back to December 2015. I felt led to post it tonight upon hearing of a domestic shooting in another state. After the word “bombing” in my original opening sentence, I added the words “shooting” and “attack,” after praying about altering the original entry. I offer it tonight as my prayer and intention for peace.

Oh, God, another bombing (shooting/attack). Please, please, please, please, please. Please.

Don’t worry and call it prayer. Don’t fear and call it wisdom. Don’t hate and call it justice.

Take a deep breath, and pray for My will, which is Peace, to be done.

Take another deep breath, and pray for My Kingdom, which is Love, to come.

Take yet one more deep breath, and pray for My Angels, who are heralds of Hope, to be once again seen, once again heard, once again felt, and once again followed.

Ssshhhh. You can cry; I Am crying too. What? You think I don’t weep with those who weep? I don’t ask you to do anything I Myself Am not already doing. Yes, I will wipe away all tears—but not today. Not as long as there is still grief and sorrow in your world. But bring those tears to Me. Don’t let what you see and hear make you bitter. This is hard work, to remain connected to Me as the Source of Love and Goodness when voices all around you begin to shout louder and louder in rage and revenge. That is what leads to war, you know—those voices. So cry if you must, but cry for peace.

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Calm

Lord, the theme or challenge lately seems (again) to be health. I need to remember to be gentle with myself in my thinking. I need energy. We both do—some va-voom.

Your secret today really isn’t Power. You think it is—you think you have to rev your engine, “power through.” That will actually make you feel worse physically, and that will make you feel worse emotionally. Your secret today is to coast. Drift. Soak. This is a gentle day; start by being gentle with yourself. Eat gentle-to-digest foods. Treat yourself gently and easily. Sit a lot. Catch your breath. Your calm is what attracts most people to you. You have an opportunity to model that calm today.

Okay, thank You, Lord. I do feel better when calm.

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The Color Of Love

Lord, my painter friend says, convince me, the viewer, that this is a boat. Or a bird. Whatever. It is the essence. So what is the essence of my life with You? Now, this is. This deliberate time. Lord, living as if You were literally present to all my senses. That’s what I’m doing. I’m living—trying to, anyway, as if You were right at my elbow. “Pleasing God” doesn’t even come close. You are not my boss; You’re so much more. You’re my love. It’s like, in these moments, I am Your love, too. These are all imperfect, incomplete analogies, and sometimes I feel self-centered, that You take this interest in me (why me?). But I know, first, it’s true, and more, that You, being God, have this mysterious capacity to be like this, intimately involved at the same time with all of us, the whole planet of us, maybe the whole universe of creations.

So that insight, that understanding, changes everything for me, and on a daily basis. Every day I wake up and I am so glad I am married to Pete. I am so glad for the fur-babies in my life. And I am so glad that I know I am Yours. I found a piece of blue seaglass! It’s butterfly blue. What is this blue a symbol of? I think, “nothing but blue skies…”

 Isn’t that kind of like me, and isn’t that kind of like PollyAnna?

I need some PollyAnnas. I have a world filled with Doom-N-Gloomers. Some are driving that train and some are on board believing there’s no other ride. If you can believe this, I Am PollyAnna Myself. I need some Believers. I need some Dreamers. I need some Co-creators. That is where you and others like you come in. I need some Weavers of Magic. I need some Painters of Possibility. I need some Happily-Ever-After Storytellers. Won’t you join with me in My work of making New?

Everything old is new again—that’s My work.

Think of your breath like blue mist. Think of every out-breath as calming, soothing, healing, as Peace. Blue is the color of Peace, My Peace. Breath in Yellow, the energizing sun of Yes, of Joy, and breath out the gentle calm soothing breeze yes of Peace. Yellow and Blue make green, the green growth of beauty. You associate red with love in your culture because you’ve emphasized sacrifice. Green is a love-color too, which emphasizes growth. Love Grows. Love Expands. Love makes room, always, for one more at the Table. Evergreen is a symbol of My Love, Love in every season.

 

 

 

 

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High-voltage Connection

My mind is in day-go mode. I need to center back down, right? What is most important today?

 

What is most important today is that you keep your peace. That you remember I AM with you. That you really remember what that means. That you choose. If you are going to walk down memory lane, walk those paths where My Promises came true in spades. If you are going to think about the future, remember I AM already present there, loving you, blessing you. Remember that your serenity is not dependent on circumstances, or on what anyone else says, does or experiences. Your serenity, the reality of your life, depends on Me.

Think of it this way: is your lamp that you are reading and writing by just now in any way dependent on whether somebody in the next town paid their electric bill? You each have your own connection. Yours happens to be a high-volt transmission line. Nobody else’s frayed wiring needs to affect you in the least.

Ha, that is funny, God. Somehow I am finding that funny. Ok, thank You.

 You’re welcome (with the hint of a chuckle).

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Centering

Lord, I’m restless.

You feel like you are the clay on the wheel, spinning around and around. You need to let Me center you. Then I can shape you, shape your life, into the perfect form and the perfect size. But all begins with centering.

I’m seeing this wide bowl and Your Hands shaping it from inside. Expanding it from within. Increasing capacity.

Today is like the disciples fishing all night and rowing home, tired and discouraged. That is where you are—that is how you feel. You are doing all you know how to do, and you are giving it your best effort. And yet you still are coming up short. So I told them to go out, at the wrong time of day and put out their nets one more time. Let out your nets for a catch. And you know the result. 153 fish. So many fish that the nets broke. So many fish the two of them couldn’t haul them in; they needed help, they needed two more helpers.

So what do I do now, today?

Relax. Unwind. Go with the flow.

 

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Heaven

Lord, I was thinking, if I died today, who in heaven would be there, to meet me, I mean? If I think of eternity as timeless, then people not yet born, people not yet died, could be there, but that complicates things. I was imagining, say, 20 years from now, and a heaven where even those who hurt me were there, were sorry, were healed themselves, and we could have in Eternity the relationship we didn’t have—couldn’t have—here.

Your first vision of heaven was as a place of healing, of reconciliation, of peace and love and forgiveness, a place of restoration and joy. Not judgment. Not regret. A place where all is put to rights, in body, mind and spirit. Do you think you can out-vision Me? Do you think you can out-imagine Me? Where do you think this vision comes from? In your vision there is only peace, not punishment, not torture. There are, literally, no more enemies in your vision. All swords, even Mine, are plowshares. You didn’t dream this on your own. You are tapping into the deep vein of My Love, My Peace. For those who must have vengeance, My Blood satisfies. But you have gone deeper even than this. You’ve gone to the bedrock of “seventy times seven.” That is why you don’t focus so much anymore on My Cross. That’s why you focus on My Rising. You picture Me alive, not dying.

 

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Peace Plays the Umpire

Lord, what is the watchword for today?

The watchword for today is Peace–the kind of peace that plays umpire over your thoughts, calling fair or foul, in or out of bounds. My Peace outruns even your best thinking and your deepest understanding. When you come to the limit of all you know or understand, when nothing “makes sense,” that is when you need My Peace the most, and that is where you will find My Peace waiting.

Out of bounds thoughts and “foul moods” go hand-in-hand. I Am talking about thoughts like envy or resentment, thoughts that label others in any way less-than-you, or that label you as less-than-them, or–and this is very important for you now–thoughts that whisper you must do this alone. No, you have a team of helpers and Me as both Coach and Umpire.

But life has thrown a curveball, I hear you say.

Are you going to hurl your bat in frustration and take a chance on hurting someone else, or are you going to come to Me for some extra, private, one-on-one batting practice? You can hit this curveball. You can hit it out of the park. You can run the bases and you can drive others home, Home, on the strength of your swing. Don’t walk away from the batter’s box. Let Me show you how to handle life’s curveballs so that your peace, My Peace in you, stays intact and all your swinging for the fences bears much fruit.

It doesn’t seem fair, this particular pitch.

I know you are afraid of grounding out, of losing everything you cherish most. What happens with a game-winning run? The whole stadium cheers! All of Heaven rejoices. Let this turn into a victory lap.

How do I do that?

This is how. Your set-apart times with Me will give you everything you need. You’ve trusted Me for so much; trust Me in this.

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Fear of the Future

Lord, I feel like Kingsley. Sometimes he is content to play or chew, sometimes to nap or cuddle, but the last couple of days he is so wiggly, so squirmy, as if he can’t settle or get comfortable. I am picturing myself exactly like that—arms and legs flailing, wanting down, wanting to run. For him, this is natural and healthy; he is growing and running towards his future. Me, I feel as if I am trying to run away from it and it is looming larger and scarier every day.

Do you think I have changed? Do you think I no longer Am already in your future, preparing you, preparing your life for the days ahead? Do you think the future is some country where I Am not present, not involved, not caring about and for you?

Some people struggle with anger or pride or selfishness. You struggle with fear and worry. These are your challenges. You have made much progress in trust and faith, but let Me ask you a question. I already know the answer, but I want you to hear yourself say it: do you think I Am no longer good? No longer Love? No longer Peace, or Joy? Do you think hope is foolish and gratitude is empty? Do you think all I have said, all I have done, is a lie—or am I a truth-teller still?

Oh Lord, I know You are all those things—and more. I know You are good and kind and that Love and Peace and Joy are not only Your gifts but also Your very nature.

But…? You are thinking a But…

But we get thrown curve balls. You have said You are not testing us, or not just for testing’s sake. You have said You don’t cause natural disasters—or, I am paraphrasing now—human health ones either. So if these challenges are not You, then what are they? How can I understand them?

Do you remember what I said the other day about a clockmaker, making and winding a clock?

Yes.

Now I want you to imagine the clockmaker doing something that in your limited viewpoint seems pointless, even unacceptable. I want you to picture the clockmaker holding in his hands a clock that no longer keeps time, that constantly stops and starts. Picture that clock scratched and scarred, with vestiges of its earlier beauty marked by years of use, faithfully ticking away, but no longer able to function anywhere near its peak performance. Now picture the clockmaker carefully disassembling the clock, the very clock he himself made. I want you to imagine the clockmaker taking all these parts and laying them out, cleaning and polishing them, repairing where needed, and adding new parts to the pile. Now watch as the clockmaker assembles a new, even more beautiful and intricate instrument that doesn’t need winding and that keeps perfect rhythm for eternity. Who wouldn’t want that? Who wouldn’t want to be that? You see clues in nature even now. Why do you think you are noticing all the butterflies this season? Why do you think you got to watch the caterpillars and chrysalis formation? These were all meant as gifts to encourage you, to give you hope. What do you do with Kingsley when he seems frantic?

I hold him close so he can hear or feel my heartbeat.

And?

And he calms down, almost immediately.

Let Me hold you close. Listen to My Heartbeat. Remember Who I Am. Remember Whose you are. And know this: every human clock you watch unwinding is being readied for a limitless life of perfect rhythm, perfectly balanced, perfectly in tune, perfectly aligned. Do you—can you—believe for this?

Yes, Lord, I can.

Then let this strengthen, encourage and comfort you. If you can calm your new puppy, why can’t you let Me calm you? And don’t run away from your future. I still have much to give you, much to show you, much to share with you. And you have much to share with others. Be at Peace, Little One. Sleep easier tonight. I Am with you, and with everyone you love. I will never leave you, nor will I leave them. So, you rest in My care and let Me care for your loved ones.