Peace. It does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble, or hard work. Peace means to be in the midst of all those things and still be calm in your heart.
~ Unknown
There are many times that I sit at the keyboard trying to think of what to write. “Writer’s Block” comes very naturally to me! Such was the case yesterday. I was at the keyboard trying to write this reflection. I found a quote I liked and wrote out the Faith Action; however, everything in the middle was a blank.
As I sat there struggling to think of what to write, our maintenance director came to my office and told me that a fire drill was going to happen in fifteen minute’s time. He gave me the head’s up because there are times that I go somewhere in the school to intentionally block an exit.
I read about a fire at an orphanage many years ago. Several people died because the emergency exit had been chained shut. They continually pounded on the exit door rather than turning around and going to one of several other exits. Why? Because they only had ever practiced that one door in drills. That is why I am “a fire” at drills: to give the students a chance to think of other exits to find.
Life often throws obstacles our way and we need to look for ways out. Sometimes, the typical ways are not available to us. If we are going to make it, we need to find other avenues. That can only be done if there is a certain calm that is within. If, instead, panic reigns, the outcome will be catastrophe. None of us wants that to happen. Not in fire drills or real fires. Not in any other struggle or problem in life.
Lent gives us the opportunity to spiritually drill. It invites us to seek other avenues when we do so. Many of us may be “one prayer people”. For example, we might just do form prayers: Our Fathers, Hail Mary’s, Glory Be’s, et cetera. If we do not engage in other types of prayer from time to time — contemplative, spiritual reading, scriptural, and the like — we might be at a loss when the form prayers fail us. Variety can be good.
None of that will help us, though, if we do not have peace in our very core. We cannot achieve that peace by ourselves. It is only given to us when we devote ourselves to the Lord. Do not be distracted by the world. Focus on the Lord and find your peace.
FAITH ACTION: Pray for those who have lost their inner peace and are having a hard time dealing with troubles that come their way.