Inner Peace in War

Long before Achilles fought Hector at Troy, long after the last Sultan warred into Europe, and on into today, and on into tomorrow, humans have fought wars -- peoples against peoples, religions against religions, and nations against nations.

High-ranking military officers abhor war. None of those officers wants to dehumanize the enemy. Each of them prefers peace. Each will fight when called upon. The question is, when at war, can human hearts remain at peace?

God’s peace isn’t the kind that stops battles. God’s inner peace frees the heart of hate, even when at war, even when in battle.

The Teacher said, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you, not as the world gives it. Don’t let your hearts be troubled, nor afraid.”

Francis of Assisi has a prayer to fill our hearts with true peace.

Let’s pray: “Lord, make me a channel of your peace, that where there is hatred, I may bring love; that where there is discord, I may bring harmony; that where there is error, I may bring truth; that where there is doubt, I may bring faith; that where there is despair, I may bring hope; that where there is sadness, I may bring joy. Lord, grant that I may seek rather to comfort than be comforted; to understand rather than be understood; to love than be loved. For it is by self-forgetting that one finds. It is by forgiving that one is forgiven. It is by dying that one awakens to Eternal Life. Amen.

Here’s a Thought: Inner peace is God’s gift to a troubled world.

Source:
John 14:27