Peace On Earth

World peace. It’s such a big and noble cause. When is it ever going to get here? Seems someone has been praying for it since we left the Garden. This week I was thinking of the world in smaller terms, the few square miles where I spend most of my time, my neighborhood.

This lovely summer evening I am sitting in the backyard listening to the neighborhood. And what do I hear? Crying babies. Two of my littlest neighbors are giving their moms loud problems. It does not sound like fun in their houses.

I shut my eyes and sink into my thoughts. First thought “Oh so glad the crying screaming days are over at my house.” Selfish I know, but my 14-year-old son is happily reading a book in his room, a little down time from screen games. My second thought “How tired those mommies must be. It’s the end of a long summer day and all they want is a cold drink and a sweet breeze when instead they have cranky kids.” I start to pray for them.

I ask God to pour his patience into those moms. I ask him to calm the children. I ask for cool breezes, sleepy kids and relaxed husbands. I ask for God to infuse each home with his presence and let the confused inhabitants wonder at how this sense of calm just fell over them. I ask they feel a sense of wonder at the pleasant presence of God. I will tell you that the crying did not stop immediately, but eventually peace came to the hood.

I am glad the crying children were not my responsibility but actually they are; my heart went out the stressing families and I was brought to prayer. My first thought these days is to ask for calm and peace. The source best able to provide that is God. So I pray. I find myself doing this more and more. In a long line at the post office I pray as I cue up. I pray for the workers at the window who just want a lunch break. I pray for the ones in line who need to get going. I pray each one of us would take a breath and wait patiently. I pray in traffic. (This one is harder for me, I am a go-go kind of gal and sitting in traffic gets to me.) It is easier to find a calm and peace if I ask for it. “Please give me perspective, this traffic is moving. I will get where I am going and it does not have to be in the next 5 minutes.”

There are opportunities everyday all around us to ask for peace. Whether we need it for ourselves or we can see someone else is struggling to “keep it together.” We can ask God for a measure of his patience and peace. He will see our need he will answer. He wants good things for us. A troubled heart coming to him seeking his peace is a good thing.

World peace will come one day but we have to ask. So I am starting by praying for peace in my world.

Posted 6/18/2008 @ 4:15 PM | Weekly Thoughts