Peace

The following post was submitted by Diane Cooper, Staff Assistant at Downtown Church.

[dropcap]peace.[/dropcap]  it does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble or hard work. it means to be in the midst of those things and still be calm in your heart.    --  unknown

There are few words that evoke feelings of peace when we hear them.  "Security", for example...we all want it.  All of us, that is, except the dude who keeps breaking in and jacking our stuff from the Spot on Blanding.  But that's a different definition of the word.

What is security, really?  A stable job with health and retirement benefits?  Money in the bank?  Solid investments for the future?

What about the security of a nation provided by strong leadership and military defense?  The media has focused a good bit this week on national security and our need for a strong leader who will take a stand to protect us from powers that would prefer our country not exist in its present form. That kind of rhetoric evokes strong feelings of insecurity and a desire for change that will produce the desired sense of security.

In wrestling with these feelings, it occurs to me that we cycle through feelings of security and insecurity.  Things happen around us that cause the cycle to ebb and flow. It is rarely constant and the tide is strong. We can do all in our power to self-insure, creating a sense that we have everything covered and that our selves and our families are protected.   But ultimately, we begin to realize that our security has to come from something bigger.

In that realization, we can find something enormously comforting if we seek it.  Something that evokes feelings of security beyond what we or our strongest leaders could ever produce.  We find something that makes us safe and secure from all alarms.  It's when we lean that we find it, and realize we have nothing to fear or dread.  Peace then results.  “Peace” - now there's a word.