Peace Inside

When I teach Bible Studies at the jail I often say that peace inside is the pearl of great price. Without interior peace people can't truly enjoy anything, no matter how beautiful, wonderful, or expensive. Internal agitation spoils luxurious vacations and everyday pleasures as well. When people experience constant unrest they often make poor choices just to escape the distress for a little while. They flee from reality to emotionally gratifying TV and movies instead of getting restful sleep; they stuff themselves with ice cream, candy, and chips; they smoke, or drink too much caffeine or alcohol; they gossip, spend too much money, or neglect personal relationships. As the desperation grows, guilt, anger, and depression develop, leading to even worse choices. The inmates at the jail tell me that they abuse drugs, not to get high, but to numb the pain they feel. Of course, every bad behavior produces more guilt, anger, and depression. The person's life spirals downward toward a crisis situation.

Life doesn't have to be that way, no matter what the external pressures are. Placing health before pleasure is fundamental to feeling peaceful. Bodies starved for fresh, nutritious food, for restful sleep, for air and exercise don't work very well. They feel too weak to exercise. They crave unhealthy substances. They produce too much adrenalin, the fight or flight hormone, leading to social withdrawal and angry behavior.

Another key to having internal calm is to avoid the influence of angry people. If possible, it's wise to stay away from them physically. If such people are co-workers or family members, however, it may not be possible to avoid them physically. In that case we need our spiritual resources to stop thinking about all the mean things they do and say, to keep their anger out of our souls.

We need a little room built inside our hearts where no meanness can ever enter, where we can always go to be with our loving Lord. We build that room by prayer, Bible reading, and by going there often. The room must have strong walls to shut out all the badness of the world. We construct that room day by day, little by little.

When daily prayer has built the walls of the room strong enough, we can go there anytime we want to chat with our all-wise, all-knowing Friend. In that space we cry out to Him, we say we are sorry, we speak of love and of love lost, we praise and thank Him, we beg Him to help us do things His way. Some authors have called this mental prayer or meditation. Spiritual writers down through the centuries have recommended this daily quiet time with the Lord. Surely in this day when so many fearsome events happen all around us, we need a place inside for prayer more than ever before. There's no peace without it.

St. Paul in his letter to the Galatians lists the marvelous sweet fruits of the Holy Spirit: charity, joy, peace, patience, long-suffering, mildness, faith, modesty, self-control, and chastity. Prayerful people who make good choices are like that, no matter what happens to them. The saints suffered sickness, persecution, torture, and even martyrdom while enjoying the fruits of the Spirit. We can do that too. We can choose well and spend time with our Friend inside the little room. Then peace, the pearl of great price, will be ours.

Mary Sue Laing, M.Ed.
Resource Teacher, St. Ambrose School
newskill7@msn.com

by Mary Sue Laing, M. Ed., New Skill, Inc. Academic Tutor