Still Here, Pursuing Peace

“…Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.” Philippians 4:8 NLT

My brain seems to be in a loop. The words echo around and around because they don’t have anywhere else to go these days. Pursuing peace. Pursuing peace. Pursuing peace. Choo-choo.

We all have been on a new adventure together. But separate. Each morning opens up to a blank slate. My calendar that had been full for April suddenly was wiped clean. We all have opened our hands and let go. There has been loss. Some folks have had much harder loss than others. 

I think the younger you are, the harder the loss. School, gone. Graduation and friends, absent. Work and co-workers, removed. Weddings, unplanned. It is hard to walk through the day with no purpose. I think beyond the threat of this virus, the hardest burden we bear is the destruction of our purpose. It tears down hope. It threatens us with emptiness. It punctures the fullness of life. 

Maybe that is why my constant thought, my constant prayer for myself and the ones I love is this: peace.

But how in the world do I find peace? The moment I open my laptop or look at my phone, the worries of the world surge in. I think if I look outside my window, I gain a clue to what is better. I need to change my view. I need to look outward instead of inward. I need to be in God’s natural world instead of inside my own little head. That may be where I need to start.

Let me make a list, for I am a list maker:

Take a walk.

Say hello to neighbors I haven’t seen in months. Or years.

Wave to children in their driveways.

Explore a new trail or state park.

Pet your dog or cat’s tummy as long as they will let you.

Call a friend on the phone instead of texting them.

Spend at least five minutes looking at something God made, like a seashell or a pinecone or bark or a flower. Really see it.

Eat lunch outside. Or dinner.

Close your eyes and listen to the birdsong. Or the chipmunk alarms.

Do something just for the fun of it; a puzzle or a board game or cards. Draw or color or paint.

Write down a favorite memory.

Read old letters. Look at family photographs.

Send cards just to say I am thinking of you.

Watch movies that have been on your ‘to-see’ list.

Start each day with a devotional and let that lead you to a passage of scripture to contemplate.

Talk to God like He is your best friend and the One who knows everything and has strong arms.

Build an outdoor fire one evening and listen to Brian Wilson’s 2004, 35-years-in-the-making album Smile. Or any music that makes you smile.

And watch the stars come out.

Well, that’s what I am doing, anyway. 

And this is where I am, my friends. I don’t want to hear this world’s bad news. Oh, it isn’t going anywhere – there’s plenty of it out there. But I don’t want to seek it out. I want to look for ‘whatever is good, whatever is holy…’ I think the passage I am looking for goes like this:

6 Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need and thank him for all he has done.  7 Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

8  And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.  9  Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you. (Paul’s words to the Philippians 4:6-9 NLT)

Peace. Isn’t that what we all want?

Several years ago I made the decision to change from traditional medical insurance to a Christian-based medical cost-sharing plan. Whenever I have a question, I call them on the phone, and I always get to talk to a real-live person. And they always ask how they can pray for me before we hang up. I am not comfortable asking strangers to pray for me, so I just say, “No, I’m good, thank you.” But this one guy responded back; “Well then, I will pray for peace for you – because everyone always needs more peace.” And he did. Wow. Yes. Everyone always needs more peace.

When I don’t know what I need, I know this now, I need more peace. We all do. 

Question: What are you doing that brings you peace?

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.