MY PEACE I GIVE TO YOU.

 

   This is one of my favorite verses from the New Testament where Jesus speaks of peace--"My peace I give unto you, not as the world gives." Boy, is that ever true, esp. now in these rather dark times. (When do we stop using the modifier "rather" and just say, "dark times." I fear for that time.

 

  What does it even mean to have "peace" in one's heart now? I am going to hazard a guess. I think the only peace we can truly have now is that which comes from loving God, from putting God at the center of our lives and trying to follow the Gospel. N.T. Wright, my new favorite theologian, speaks of once this happens, we must take on the mission of the Gospels and the church. 

To welcome the immigrant; to care for the poor; to lift up the lowly; to feed the hungry; to comfort the mourning; in short, to follow the Beatitudes. (How is it that Evangelicals in the South always want to put the 10m commandments into schoolrooms but never the Beatitudes, which are the core of Jesus's teaching?)

   Back in the Spring, when I was truly despairing of our country and what was ahead of us, as well as what the gov. was actually doing, I got a God message. Otherwise known as, a GM. 

I get these from time to time, as I have mentioned before. They come as a thought and are phrased in words which I would not use. I have learned to listen and pay attention. So, the GM was, "Don't let him steal your peace." Ok. That is easier said than done when dear people are being deported and kids are in detainee centers. How to I listen to this message and act on it?

   For me peace begins with doing something for others, for the common good. I have an ongoing $25 monthly donation to the Northampton Survival Center to aid in their efforts to help marginalized and hungry folks.

 

  I try to always make GF deserts for our UCC church's Cathedral In the Night offering. Every 3 months it is our turn to come up with food for marginalized folks in Northampton, whose numbers have been increasing exponentially in the last two years. A dear friend organizes the meals which usually follow one of two recipes: a Taco Casserole or a Ziti casserole with meat and tomato sauce. Folks from the church, bless them, drive the food down to First Churches in Noho where the casseroles are first heated and then set out. A wonderful minister conducts a short service in open air and the food is distributed. I tend to make GF chocolate chip cookies, although I tried making some GF raspberry jam thumbprint cookies last weekend. It is not enough. I know that, but it is something. And sometimes all we have is "something."

 

  I give money to Catholic Charities when I can. This is a great charity where over 90% of the money donated goes to people in need. Not much is kept for overhead or administrative costs.

 I need to send money now to Nepal after that horrific flood. Those poor people! And as you may know, the very cuts awful Musk made to USAID cancelled the early warning system for floods in this area. Blood on his hands for sure.

  I pray. A lot. When I get my steps in on the deck, hopefully close to 13,000 'cause I gotta keep fit as a cancer survivor, I repeat the "Hail Mary" as I go back and forth. Some might ask, isn't this boring? This means you have not seen our view! With the hills nearby, trees at the edge of our fields, birds in the sky, and my gardens below with flowers blooming (and don't forget the 4 female hummers left), I am never bored.

 I would like to hope that at times I can share some of the peace in my heart to others, that I could sit with them, hold their hand, breathe deeply with them, and maybe have some of God's peace float out of my heart into their hearts. It is what I can do now. It may not be enough, I well know that, but it is something. And as I said above, sometimes "something" is all we have. I think in God's heart, it feels like enough. I am banking on that.