Journal of Sacred Work

Peace is always beautiful.  -Walt Whitman

   This past Sunday, my wife and I traveled to Ohio for the funeral celebration of a dear friend's mother. Mimi Tomlinson brought cheer to all those around her as one of the pioneering women of radio and television in Columbus and as a beloved mother, grandmother, and great grandmother. She also loved to party. When she died at age 87, everyone close to her knew she wanted her friends to party, not attend a somber funeral. And that's what over a hundred folks of all ages did across a Sunday afternoon.
   For most of the celebration, though, I thought about how Mimi is now at peace. Her bodies' journey is complete. Now, she can rest in eternity with none of the cares of the world to trouble her.
   We want loved ones who have passed away to "Rest in Peace." We certainly don't wish for them a troubled journey through eternity. The lives we live are hard enough much less to have that trouble continue after we die.    
   One of the things I like about Walt Whitman's poetry is that it is direct, even blunt. Notice, in the quote above, that he does not describe peace as something that is sometimes beautiful or occasionally beautiful. It is always beautiful.
   Why should he qualify or restrict the beauty of peace? True peace describes serenity, grace and calm.
   How do we know peace unless we have understood it in the context of its opposite? Peace seems especially sweet, for example, in the wake of great conflict. After the fires of war, the cooling breezes of peace arrive on the wings of doves.
   How well did the people of southern California appreciate peace before recent fires darkened skies and ravaged precious lives and beloved homes. Californian's long, now, for relief from the threat of fire. They long for peace. As someone who grew up in California, I came to think of it as paradise only after our family moved away to the winter clime of northern Ohio when I was twelve. It was during decades of long Ohio winters that I found myself wishing for the beautiful peace of my California days.
   Yet, we know that peace is not something that comes to us from weather or even from the absence of war. Peace comes from within not from without.
   As you go about your caregiving work, you notice that there are many who maintain a sense of peace in the presence of emergency and conflict. They sustain this serenity because they have found peace in the only place it exists – and that is within their hearts.
   How do you nurture peace in your heart?

-Erie Chapman