Christmastime peace

Our new Scottie pack, including Piper from the former pack, are the most peaceful group of Scotties we have ever had. Perhaps it is Piper’s influence, or maybe it’s because I’m filled with more peace than I ever have had before as a Scottie mom and the dogs can sense that peace. Whatever the cause, these three Scotties never fight or snap at each other.

The two pups snarl and growl during play, but they never get mad at each other. It is a joy to live with that love!

The Christmas season has traditionally been a time of peace. There are different theories regarding the date of Jesus’ birth. Sometime in the early fourth century the Church fixed the date as December 25.

For centuries, people have declared Christmas as a day of peace, regardless of the ferocity of fighting during war times. Now is the time to bring peace into our lives and homes.

Many people and organizations campaign for peace, yet there will never be peace until we each find peace in our hearts. Without that, some will be jealous or afraid of others and ultimately foment war.

There is a great old story about a town that wanted to hold a celebration, to thank its mayor for his service. Everyone agreed to donate wine for the festival. One individual decided that he would water his wine, because once all of the wine was pooled in the great barrel, his watered wine would not make any difference.

Before the festival, the full barrel was evaluated, and it was discovered that it was mostly water! Nearly everyone had thought that he could get away with a selfish move.

It is selfishness that holds us back. That monster is the greatest challenge we all face. If we look around, there are many times when greed and selfishness are behind anger, fear, and war.

The saying that, “if it’s going to be, it’s up to me,” fits here. How can I expect you to be kind and thoughtful, if I am filled with fear and hate? How can we ever have a nation or world at peace if people are greedy, afraid, and filled with jealousy and hate?

How do we find unconditional Love?

Love is a feeling that cannot be legislated. Laws about proper conduct can guide people, but they do not change the heart.

My heart has to be changed by me and a heart that does not acknowledge a higher power in the universe, has a hard time being filled with peace. I have known declared atheists who are kind and thoughtful people, but they too are filled with greed, selfishness, and fear. They lack the grounding given by understanding that this world is not an accident of nature. That all people are filled with a divine spirit which is goodness and love, but most people have not taken the time to reach past their material lives filled with greed and fear, and touch that amazing spirit of goodness and peace at their core.

Think about your family or closest friends. You think you love them, and you may believe that your love is truly unconditional. Do you ever argue? If you do, explore the cause of the argument. Is it fear? Fear that as a parent your child cannot be trusted to do the right thing. Fear that your spouse does not love you enough to change. Fear that your friend is only thinking of themself.

Each of those conditions is based on a lack of love because divine love is also trust. Behind a lack of trust is fear and fear is the opposite of love.

These are also the problems we have with other nations and the reason for wars. War is selfishness based.

This brings us back to the need for each one of us to develop a feeling of love for all our fellow humans. Jesus instructed us to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. He meant that all people are our neighbors. Not just those in our close circle of friends. There will never be peace if we only like those who are like us.

So how can I find the peace within necessary to access an inner peace great enough that could help others find their peace within? My spiritual teachers, using the teachings of Jesus, have led me to start with a simple affirmation: I am one with God Almighty, I am one with all life and all people.

After the affirmation, I take time to quietly think about each segment of that affirmation. I think about God. God is not a white bearded man sitting on a throne somewhere in the clouds. God is everywhere, in all things, and the only power in the universe. God is the energy that makes the electron spin within every atom, and my body and all the air I breathe, the food I eat, and the water I drink is made up of those atoms. Now I can see that God is in everything. God is a benevolent, intelligent energy, and God is in everyone.

Next, I think about life and what that means. Life is the spark that animates a cluster of atoms. Without that spark all atomic clusters are lifeless. What gives each cluster that spark? An energy we cannot see or touch, but we can understand its effect. That energy is what we call God. So life is the result of a powerful, intelligent energy, which means that all life is filled with God.

Finally, what are people? People are all “children of God.” We are each made from and filled with that amazing energy which we call God. Our problems come from thinking in a shallow way. Thinking only about stuff that will make us “happy.” But that happiness is very shallow and transient.

The only happiness and inner peace occurs when we begin to see that we are really part of a great whole which is made by one leader, God. Our leader only wants everything and everyone to prosper. Our prosperity comes through peace, through seeing the good in everything and everyone. By knowing there is enough of everything we need if we are not greedy and selfish.

Peace is mine, when I rise above my material self and become one with God, life, and all people. Let us realize that peace and then share it with others.

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.

John 14:27