I start most days sitting in silence.
Often, because of the drive-drive-drive culture we live in, this feels like wasted time.
Sometimes it is, mostly because I fail to put my phone down and I end up frittering the time away. Distracted, never settled, jumping at every noise my phone makes. Those times make my soul feel more weary. There is no peace to be found there.
But often, this time of sitting quietly is the exact opposite of wasted. It is rich with gifts: insight, ideas, encouragement, comfort, a sense of the Holy reminding me of purpose.
I then go out into the world with a reservoir of peace deep inside. And this resource, this pool of internal peace, makes its way into most interactions I have. I listen better, I am more curious than critical, I see the image of God in every creature I encounter. I offer peace.
I love how Etty Hillesum, a victim of the Holocaust, put it:
UItimately, we have just one moral duty: to reclaim large areas of peace in ourselves, more and more peace, and to reflect it toward others.
And the more peace there is in us, the more peace there will also be in our troubled world.
(Etty Hillesum, died in Auschwitz in 1943 at the age of 29. From An Interrupted Life, a compilation of her letters)The more peace there is in us, the more peace there will also be in our troubled world.
What do you do to make space for peace in your own soul?
Photo by Christopher Sardegna on Unsplash