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Go Into Peace


My yoga teachers reminded me this week of mindfulness and awareness. Yoga emphasizes the practice of living in the present. In modern society with its distractions and demands, it's easy to forfeit the present moment. We cram our mind and day with exhausting activity that leaves us feeling numb. Numbness dulls our senses and defends us from the now. But why do we live like that? Why are we willing to live like mindless puppets?

Hollyhocks bear large bright blossoms, but being so tall and spindly their stalks often topple to the side. I was trying to adjust my pink one, but unfortunately, I broke off the stem. So I decided to cut off the flowers and float them in one of my cut glass bowls. The blossoms looked even prettier in my dish and made my kitchen table cheery. A few minutes later, I noticed a couple of ants scrambling around the blossoms. I picked them off; but when I turned around again, I noticed that there were more. Hmm . . . where were they coming from? I looked real close at each blossom, and again thought that I had found them all. But not . . . because this time there seemed to be even more! That's when I realized that the ants had probably been living within the blossom pods and given their watery new environment, they were being driven out. All afternoon I went through the ritual of catching the escaping ants. I even put the dish outside for a break to see if I could get ALL the ants to leave. Finally, by the next day after leaving the dish out overnight, the ants had left. Now, I could safely enjoy the blossoms on my table without their hosts sharing in our meals.

I am not too different from those ants. I realized why we avoid living in the moment. The present is not our ideal; it's often difficult, painful, and falls so short of our expectations and "what if's". Like the ants that didn't relish a watery present, we scramble frantically, run around in circles, going thoughtlessly throughout our days, trying to keep from the reality that disappoints us. So how do I live in the present?

Perhaps the answer is in the simple phrase the Master gave the woman who had washed his feet. Jesus told her that her faith had saved her and was now to "go into peace." Jesus left us peace, His peace; not as the world gives but His peace. A peace in which we do not need to be troubled with what life dishes out, nor be frightened of all the things that do or don't work out. God's peace surpasses all comprehension and keeps our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Or in other words it allows me to live mindfully, in the present moment.

Go into peace . . live this moment in peace, in rest of mind, thoughts, and actions. Go into peace . . . His peace.

"Peace is conceived of as a state which one entering is to go forward in, so as to realize, ever more and more, that rest and serenity of soul which follow pardon, and deepen finally into eternal rest."
(George R. Bliss, DD; 1884)

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