It’s better to start with peace.

I used to think of peace in terms of universal tranquility. Peace means no more war.

Peace is more than the absence of war. Psalm 23 paints a nice picture of peace, “green pastures”, “still waters” and “want for nothing.” Would that our world looked and felt like this all the time. We know that it doesn’t. The complexities of life and humanity are messy and infected with suffering, turmoil, greed, violence, and selfishness.

The Psalm continues, “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.” Peace is the calm within the storm. It’s a pause in the face of danger. It’s a warm fire on a chilly night. It’s a hand to hold when you’re lost or lonely. It’s the rainbow that comes with the flood.

Peace does not require the absence of chaos. It is the restoration of the soul in spite of it.

The Subtlety of Evil

It’s ironic that peace exists in “the valley of death.” We humans are designed to notice danger as a matter of survival. And so, we may find ourselves so locked into the danger that we are not able to access the peace.

In a similar way, evil has a way of existing in parallel to the good.

Think of poor old Adam and Eve. What could go wrong with an apple? A sweet juicy, maybe even nutritious apple? From the tree of knowledge? Here they are in a beautiful garden (“green pastures”, “still waters” and “want for nothing”) and yet death lies before them in the form of knowledge.

Just as we may see peace as universal tranquility and miss the point that it is accessible amidst chaos. We might also see evil in its most extreme forms– violence, war, coercion, bullying, discrimination, murder, rape, etc. and miss that is perhaps more intrusive in it’s disguise for good.

The Echoes of Knowledge Remain

The Soul is challenged by our access to knowledge because we often confuse knowledge with truth.

The relativist nature of our thinking can obstruct us from finding peace. The capitalist may rationalize that all is good if it creates wealth in terms of money and material gain. The revolutionary may rationalize that killing is a necessary path to a brighter future. The communist may rationalize that individual freedoms get in the way of a collective utopia. The drug addict may rationalize that momentary bliss is the only way to live.

Just because we think something does not make it so.

The Whisper of Truth

More subtle than the disguise of evil is the whisper of truth that is the source of peace.

While truth lives all around us, our capacity for knowledge can make it almost impossible to grasp. For each time we begin to approach truth, our own thoughts and desires come into play to cloud the issue.

The pursuit of truth is the path to peace. It is a narrow way and challenges us to live in gratitude and humility. Even as it is ever present, it is elusive when we try to own it.

How do you hold a moon beam in your hand?

Rogers and Hammerstein said it well in How do you solve a problem like Maria?

“How do you keep a wave upon the sand? How do you hold a moon beam in your hand?”

Truth is like that. It is not a thing to hold onto (like knowledge), it is a sense of being. It is the whole of existence. It is not ours to determine, or own, or distribute. It exists in all places at all times and is accessible to all. Even so, it is fleeting to us because we do not nor can we control it.

Seek truth and you will find peace.