Who doesn’t want to live in peace? We do everything and anything to experience that longed-for inner state. We even cross oceans to reach those majestic, faraway places that convey calm, tranquility, harmony…
Sometimes our need to feel it is so great that we fall into absurdity, believing that we can buy it or make it ours through external agents, such as quartz crystals and other esoteric items.
If only we understood and, above all, accepted that it is within our reach and that feeling it does not cost a single penny.
True inner peace is the fruit of the Holy Spirit. When our soul responds docilely to its inspirations, we will produce acts of virtue and fruits such as peace. This means that we necessarily need an inner disposition and to cooperate ascetically in order to live virtuously.
The inner state in which you and I choose to live will be the one we generate not only at the family level, but also at the global level, because love, peace, and joy, as well as bad moods and hatred, are transmitted.
So, if we genuinely want to live in a world of peace, we need to start by having inner peace ourselves. We need to be like the sunlight that sunflowers seek because they need it. Let us be the kind of people that others want to be around, because we transmit tranquility and everything that brings serenity.
How can you be a generator of peace?
1. Pray, meditate, talk to God.
Every morning, spend a few minutes alone with Him and, through silence, listen to His voice and allow Him to fill you with His peace.
2. Stop and think before you speak, write, or act.
In other words, reflect on what you can generate with your words when you say this or that, when you write that message, or when you act in that way. It is essential to think about how you feel at that moment. If you feel irritated, you will surely convey that emotion and not generate peace.
3. Be very careful with what you share on social media.
The “share” button sends no red flags or warnings, so be very cautious when pressing it. Be sensitive with the messages you write, the news and photos you share or reproduce.
Here, too, it is essential to stop and think about what you can generate: peace, hope, or unease, pessimism, or anxiety.
4. Generate good news and share it.
And avoid bad news! Try to be only a bearer of good news. Sadly, good news is difficult to reproduce, but the other kind… Ugh! It spreads like a virus.
Living in peace does not mean the absence of problems, but hope in the Creator; the certainty that after a night, the sun always rises. Therefore, when you go through a difficult time that can cause you to lose your inner peace, call on the Name of God and say, “Give me that peace that only you can give me.” Breathe and face life as it comes, always in peace.
Peace is contagious. Choose every day, despite the circumstances, to live in that state, to be generators of peace and not of hatred; of hope and not of pessimism, especially in this age, when social media can be a source of harmony and reconciliation or, quite the opposite. Peace can also go viral!
Some quotes from Fr. Joseph Kentenich on peace:
“Our times are so turbulent and restless. Confusion and subversion reign; struggles and persecutions are everywhere. That is why, more than ever, we feel compelled to seek peace in God, to cling to Him with all our hearts.” (Everyday Sanctity)
“The world needs people who are at peace with themselves, tested in their inner life and in their daily struggles. People who overcome uncertainties and doubts and who, through a deep union with God, receive the strength to imprint the face of Christ on the impetuous and constant resistance of the times.” (Everyday Sanctity)
“Unshakeable faith in loving divine Providence often causes holy people to radiate tranquility and inner peace, enabling them to act correctly in any situation in their lives. For them, everything goes well, because nothing happens without God’s doing.” (Everyday Sanctity)
“Peace is the rest that comes from harmony with the order established by God.” (Everyday Sanctity)
“Without fatherhood, there is no tranquility or order, no peace in the world. Without fatherhood, it seems that God, who likes to be called ‘Father,’ does not look with complacency on a world in which he searches in vain for images of himself.” (Refuge in God the Father)
“Why does the sick modern world suffer from imbalance? Because people have lost their center of gravity. This center of gravity is the living God and the objective order of being, the lex aeterna (eternal law) that is inherent in him and that, through him, is inserted into the world, into world history, and into the nature of the human being. Pax tranquillitas ordinis (Peace is the tranquility that comes from order), says St. Augustine. The world today does not enjoy peace, and modern people constantly bear the mark of Cain on their foreheads: the flight from God. His characteristic is restlessness. Confusion reigns everywhere because modern people are unaware of their place in the objective order of being; because they have detached themselves from the living God and from the objective order of morality.” (Fundamental Guidelines for a Modern Pedagogy for the Catholic Educator)
Source: es.aleteia.org